Nokia has made the world's first phone call using 3D Spatial Sound.
The Finnish telecommunications giant has declared the milestone "the biggest leap forward in live voice calling" since monophonic telephony audio was first used in smartphones and computers.
It said: "It is the biggest leap forward in the live voice calling experience since the introduction of monophonic telephony audio used in smartphones and PCs today."
It was made possible using the 3GPP Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS) codec.
To be made available to consumers, it simply needs the handset to have two microphones, which is common.
It's the first time the technology has been used to power a video call on smartphones between the company’s CEO and a Finnish ambassador.
Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark told Reuters: “We have demonstrated the future of voice calls.
“This groundbreaking audio technology takes you to the caller’s environment creating a spatial and massively improved listening experience for voice and video calls, offering significant benefits for enterprise and industrial applications.”
The codec could be used in the future to improve augmented reality and VR.
As for when it will be available, Nokia plans to introduce it as part of its “5G-Advanced” standard soon before an official launch before the year is out.
Lundmark said: "This is now becoming standardised... so the network providers, chipset manufacturers, handset manufacturers can begin to implement it in their products."
