Recently, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) hosted The Auracast™ Experience at Tech-G in Shanghai, collaborating with member companies, including Intel and Xiaomi, to showcase new life-changing audio experiences. The Auracast™ Experience featured three sample environments, including an airport bar, an airport gate, and an auditorium, helping visitors experience a day in the life with Auracast™ broadcast audio.
Following the event, I spoke with Ross Wu, wireless account manager for Intel, and Zubo Tan, software R&D engineer for Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd, about their experience and the impression they got from how participants reacted to it.
A Recap of The Auracast™ Experience at Tech G
How was your company involved in The Auracast™ Experience?
Ross: As a collaborator, we aim to interact more with our customers and gain a better understanding of what they expect from Auracast™ broadcast audio.
Zubo: Xiaomi interacted as a collaborator of The Auracast™ Experience. We brought a mobile phone enabled by Auracast™ broadcast audio, the Redmi K60 Supreme, which allows users to experience the fun of sharing their audio through Auracast™ broadcast audio in advance. At the event, an R&D engineer from Xiaomi introduced the current development of Auracast™ broadcast audio to the audience and answered their questions.
What most surprised you at The AuracastTM Experience?
Ross: The scenarios built at the event impressed me a lot and captured everyone’s imagination. For example, the airport scenario inspired users’ imagination and grew anticipation for the products enabled by Auracast™ broadcast audio.
Zubo: The guided tour and real-time experience of the demo impressed me a lot and enabled users to experience the convenience brought by this technology in advance. The main features of Auracast™ broadcast audio include unmuting your world, sharing your audio, and hearing your best. The experience is advanced as these scenarios are not covered by the previous technology.
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What feedback did you receive from media, analysts, colleagues, and customers at the event?
Ross: In addition to Auracast™ broadcast audio, more inquiries were made about the use cases enabled by this technology. For example, some media asked if they could use the technology at the event and whether it would be useful for users. We have seen a lot of anticipation for this technology.
Zubo: In general, the audience included users, downstream vendors, and upstream chip developers, all of them showing great interest in the live experience and product roadmap of Auracast™ broadcast audio. The fact that Bluetooth® audio is well recognized by users ensures that the industry will further enhance our confidence in developing products enabled by Auracast™ broadcast audio.
What do you think people will be most excited about when they experience Auracast™ broadcast audio?
Ross: Unlocking many scenarios. For example, when I go to the airport, I really want to be able to receive a broadcast of the gate announcements directly in my personal listening device so I avoid missing any important information or announcements. Auracast™ broadcast audio makes that come true. I believe it will unlock more amazing scenarios in the future.
Zubo: Auracast™ broadcast audio makes connection easier as its unique audio sharing feature eliminates any previous complications when pairing Bluetooth® technology. By enabling switching between scenarios, it boosts audio receiving in public places.
What are your expectations for the impact of the Auracast™ broadcast audio on the audio market?
Ross: I believe Auracast™ broadcast audio will significantly impact the broader audio market. Bringing it to more end users will require joint efforts between the Bluetooth SIG, Intel, and many other companies, including transmitter devices, headsets, and mobile phone vendors; all will be players in the whole ecosystem. Therefore, I think the impact will be broad. Beyond vendors, customers and end users will experience the biggest impact as more features are available in the future.
Zubo: Auracast™ broadcast audio is a new technology that disrupts the traditional interaction mode of Bluetooth® Classic pairing. The interaction enabled by it will inspire more innovative products, introduce application scenarios that are not covered by Bluetooth Classic technology, enhance the diversity of the Bluetooth audio market, and expedite more applications for products related to Auracast™ broadcast audio. We expect Auracast™ broadcast audio will be the future of the industry, and Xiaomi will continue to support the evolvement of this technology.
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Auracast™ Broadcast Audio
Auracast™ broadcast audio will deliver life-changing audio experiences that will enhance the way you engage with others and the world around you.