Clubhouse is introducing an update that will enable spatial audio for iOS users. According to the company, the goal of utilizing spatial audio is to give users a “more vibrant, human experience.”
On Twitter, Clubhouse announced its rollout of spatial audio support on iOS devices. Touting that it’s “like surround sound, but w/ your own headphones,” the update hopes to enrich the audio experience for users diving into an audio-only chatroom on the app.
Hear ye, hear ye 🔊 spAAaAaAatial audio on Clubhouse!
It’s like surround sound, but w/ your own headphones. A more vibrant, human experience! Plus makes it much easier to tell who’s talking.
thanks to @juberti for this one 👏 rolling out now on iOS, Android coming soon! pic.twitter.com/Zit6F9ijRK
— Clubhouse (@Clubhouse) August 29, 2021
Spatial audio will utilize subtle cues from speakers on Clubhouse calls and transform them into a 3D space around the head of the user’s head. As with other spatial audio support, the experience is best utilized with headphones as it will be most effective in simulating a room full of people.
Based on how Clubhouse explains it, their implementation of spatial audio is working differently from Apple’s. The native spatial audio experience from Apple includes head tracking and remaps the sounds based on the position of the user’s iPhone or iPad. This is largely thanks to Dolby Atmos and the gyroscope and accelerometer within the headphones.
Spatial audio is seeing quite a boom in 2021. Apple has largely adopted it. Plus, Sony is utilizing 3D audio on the PlayStation 5 while Amazon launched the Echo Studio with a 360-degree speaker. Clubhouse is the latest to get into the spatial audio race. This will undoubtedly help it stand out amongst other social media apps that are replicating the audio-only experience like Twitter and Facebook.
Clubhouse notes that spatial audio support for Android will be “coming soon.”
