Together, Google and Samsung are bringing a new open-source immersive audio technology to the Dolby Atmos competition.

It has been stated that Google, the tech behemoth in the United States, and Samsung, the tech giant in South Korea, are developing a revolutionary 3D spatial audio technology.

Immersive Audio Model and Formats (IAMF), a new competitor to Dolby Atmos, has been in development since 2020. It is the outcome of the two titans of technology collaborating on “Project Caviar,” which advances innovation in open, royalty-free HDR video and 3D audio.
Samsung claims that its revolutionary 3D audio technology will transform the way you watch media and bring action-packed scenes to life while preserving even the smallest elements of background noise.

The Visual Technology Team of Samsung Research’s WooHyun Nam stated:

“IAMF makes sound more realistic by allowing listeners to hear the audio in front, behind, or to either side and above or below them.

“As such, when IAMF technology is applied to home TV speakers and sound bars, listeners can hear sounds such as birds flying over their head on their TVs at home.”
In a nutshell, 3D Spatial audio technology follows the user and offers a highly immersive listening experience. It helps create a perception of surrounding sound without requiring a complex multi-speaker system setup. This technology artificially creates the experience of sound coming at you from all directions, heightening realism.

Nam also confirmed that IAMF will utilize the powers of Artificial Intelligence to analyze scenes and automatically fine-tune the audio wherever required. He said, “IAMF will balance the sound in these instances. Similarly, the technology will fine-tune audio when there is character dialogue to allow the listener to focus on the conversation.”