Apple seems to have a few new things up its sleeve. According to new rumors, the Apple company is developing a new AirPods model with an infrared sensor.
Apple is betting everything on spatial audio and the Vision Pro. In any case, this is what the latest information relayed by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, a source always well informed about Apple’s projects, suggests. In a blog post relayed by MacRumorsKuo predicts that AirPods with infrared cameras will arrive by 2026.
The project may seem preposterous, since it would more or less consist of installing a Face ID sensor on in-ear headphones, but the idea could make sense for those who are fully integrated into the Apple ecosystem. The infrared cameras would obviously not be used to identify you via your ear canal, but to more precisely detect the head movements of the person wearing the wireless headphones in order to offer an even improved spatial experience.
A deeper immersion
Obsessed with this concept since its democratization on Apple Music in 2021, the firm would like to push the idea a step further by mixing the infrared spatialization of the AirPods with the mixed reality of the Vision Pro. When a user watches a video on their Vision Pro while wearing these AirPods, if they turn their head to look in a particular direction, the sound rendering can be modified to improve the spatialization experience and immersion in the mixed reality world.» illustrious Ming-Chi Kuo.
We can also imagine that if you are organizing a virtual meeting with the digital avatars of your colleagues or friends, tilting your head to one side would allow you to lend a (virtual) ear more attentively to what a particular person is saying. Like when you strain your ear (the real one this time) in a noisy place to better hear a person next to you.
But that’s not all, the infrared module would also be capable, still according to rumors, of detecting gestures made near the sensor. This could for example allow you to control the volume or the playback of an audio track without even having to touch the headphones, with a simple gesture made near the ear. A potentially more practical method than the current control via touch command.
AI in our headphones?
Ming-Chi Kuo is not the first to claim that Apple is working on such a product. Mark GurmanBloombergalso very close to the firm’s industrial secrets, relayed similar rumors last February, convinced that this sensor could be used to “capture surrounding data which would then be processed by AI algorithms to help people in their daily activities ».
None of this is certain yet, but there is no doubt that Apple is working hard on many AirPods models with more or less advanced features to continue to make its accessories valid competitors in the face of the wave of wireless headphones that have been hitting the market for a few years.
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