What Is Audio Augmented Reality?
Audio Augmented Reality (a.k.a. Audio AR, AAR) is the future. And not far from the present. With the marked increase to audio consumption, “second screening”, podcasts, smartphone usage, 5G, and Airpods we are creating conditions perfect for the expansion of audio augmented reality.
Though virtual reality has long been the stuff of dreams, augmented reality should not be forgotten as an approachable and viable turn for technology and the real world.
Definition of Audio Augmented Reality
Augmented reality is defined as follows:
“Augmented reality is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. “
And upon hearing the term “augmented reality”, you likely think first of visual augmented reality. Whether a heads up display (HUD) in a video game or Google Glass, visual augmented reality has been popularized in the collective conscious.
Let’s focus instead on the auditory component of the definition.
Examples of Audio Augmented Reality
Picture yourself walking a street in Manhattan. Better yet, if you’re in New York City, simply take the walk. Almost everyone walking in Manhattan has on headphones that are connected to a smartphone. And an increasing number of these headphones are Airpods or similar form factor of Bluetooth headphones.
What if those headphones were relaying site-specific information? An additional layer of audio “augmenting” this stroll through Manhattan?
In some cases, this is already happening. What about the tourist who, with phone in pocket, is relying on audio instructions from Google Maps to navigate Bleecker St.?
It’s arguable that listening to such audio directions is a pure form of audio augmented reality. At least enough to qualify as our first broad use case.
So, how about an “old school” example? Let’s stay in Manhattan, but let’s walk up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At the entrance, you exchange your headphones for a museum guided audio tour to take you from Egyptian art to the Impressionist Wing. As you press the keypad on your audio tour, background information is provided to augment your understanding of the massive collection of art. Still qualifies as audio augmented reality, right?
Now let’s expand these use cases and imagine the following:
- An advertisement for a discount playing as you walk in the vicinity of your favorite coffee shop
- A song changing tempo to mimic your walking speed
- Touring a piece of real estate with an agent giving near-real-time information
- Up to date metro transit information to mix-ups on the subway
In summary, we’re already using audio augmented reality, we just might not know it by that name. But let’s get used to it because it’s likely here to stay.