Bose creates location-based audio playback system for ar devices

Bose has developed its own ‘ar platform’, which provides users with sound rather than images. This works based on GPS location and is intended for integration into items such as goggles and helmets. The company shows prototype glasses that use this.

Bose writes that it is a ‘tiny acoustics package’ that can be placed in glasses, for example, and that works with an app on a smartphone. Control is possible by means of speech, touch or head movements. The position is determined on the basis of the smartphone connected via Bluetooth. In this way it is possible to determine which way the user is looking and to provide him or her with relevant audio information. Bose cites the example of playing a speech at the statue of a famous person.

Instead of augmented reality by adding images, in this case it is done by adding sound, the company said. To demonstrate the technique, Bose has developed a prototype of a pair of glasses, which will initially only be available to developers and manufacturers, it tells Cnet. It is unclear whether the glasses will be available to consumers and what the price will be. The glasses don’t come with a camera and Bose claims that ‘played sound must remain private’ using a technology it developed itself. The photos show that the wearer does not have earplugs in his ears. The glasses are equipped with a microphone, for example to make calls or to control digital assistants.

The manufacturer does not say anything about the battery life of the prototype. Furthermore, Bose is announcing a developer SDK and announcing that it is partnering with several companies through its new ar platform, including Strava, TripAdvisor and Yelp. The company has created a special page for interested developers.