Sony’s new 360 Reality Audio provides hyper-realistic sound, but only if you give Mark Cerny a picture of your ear.
No, PlayStation 5 designer Mark Cerny hasn’t joined some weird murder cult that requires regular sacrifices of people’s ears. He just wants pictures of your ears to make sound better.
It’s all because of Sony’s new 360 Reality Audio system, available now through select premium music streaming services like Deezer, nugs.net, and Tidal. This new form of audio “uses Sony’s object-based spatial audio technology" to create a “360 spherical sound field” which allows an artist to put specific tracks wherever they want the audience to hear. It’s the same stuff that’s going into the PS5 to make it sound great so long as you have surround-sound audio.
However, Sony goes a step further if you’ve got a set of Sony headphones and the Headphones Connect app on your smartphone. You can actually have the app analyze the shape of your ear to make sure you’re getting the best possible sound.
All you need to do is hold your smartphone up to your ear and take a photo. The app then analyzes the shape of your ear to modify that 360-degree spherical sound field. Since the bumps and ridges of your ear actually change the way you hear, this app ensures that everyone gets the same quality audio experience.
It also sends a photo of your ear to Sony for them to keep forever. Which is weird.
Source: Sony
