Apple released a beta for AirPods Pro Conversation Boost

After being announced again at WWDC 2021This week, Apple finally released a beta of its Conversation Boost feature for AirPods Pro.

Scheduled for an official release later this fall, Apple’s senior engineering program director Gagan Gupta described Conversation Boost as a way to “help people with mild hearing impairments stay more connected in conversations,” when the feature was announced at WWDC.

While this sounds similar to what Samsung is trying to do with the Ambient Noise feature on its Galaxy Buds which increases the volume of nearby sounds and voices, for Converstation Boost, Apple takes it a step further by considering the directionality of the top. -speaker. .

Gupta said that by combining computer audio with the beamforming microphones of the iPod Pro, Conversation Boost is able to focus on the person speaking in front of you, while also using ambient noise reduction to reduce other potentially annoying sounds.

Although announced in June, Conversation Boost was not available in the first release of the AirPods Pro beta, but earlier this week Apple rolled out its second beta which made Conversation Boost available for testing.

While options like Apple’s Conversation Boost and Samsung’s Ambient Noise features are still in their infancy, it’s already clear that computer audio and machine learning are going to become a big trend for businesses. future wireless headphones.

Instead of just relying on headphones or earphones to listen to music or answer calls, many sound engineers like Samsung’s Han-gil Moon are already trying to find ways to create a device that “understands the user better”. “Everyone wants an experience where you don’t have to switch between multiple devices,” the engineer said recently. “You can just use one device to meet all your needs. “

Instead of having to manually pause your music or remove your headphones when you walk into a store or start a conversation, future headphones and headsets might know when to automatically turn off active noise cancellation and turn on something like Conversation Boost. , ideally without needing any direct inputs. So, in the future, it seems likely that the processing of ambient noise from headphones will be just as important as the ability of a device to produce a high-quality listening experience.

While we don’t generally recommend installing the beta software on your primary device, if you want to try Conversation Boost or the new AirPods Pro beta software, you can install it now by go here, as long as you have a valid Apple developer account.

Meanwhile, for the rest of us, Conversation Boost is expected to be officially released later this fall alongside new versions of iOS, iPad OS, macOS Monterey, and more.