Microsoft Teams Allows Spatial Audio for Immersive Conference Call

Microsoft released an added feature for Teams, spatial audio, that will enhance communication during conference calls.

One of the problems after long hours of audio and video conferences is meeting fatigue. There has been a rise this exhaustion as people adapted remote work due to previous pandemic.

Hence, Microsoft created spatial audio that will help reduce meeting fatigue by mimicking an in-person conversation through spatially separating voices of meeting participants.

How Does Microsoft Teams Spatial Audio Works?

Microsoft shared that creating a realistic meeting experience online is challenging enough due to humans' binaural hearing. The problem lies with the applications that provides only monophonic audio which tires the brain due to hearing voices in a single audio channel. Overlapping voices during a meeting has become a problem for some.

Teams spatial audio creates a separation between lapsing voices which resembles an in-person conversation. This makes it more effective in reducing fatigue and improving comprehension during meetings.

Microsoft promised that the spatial audio feature will make every conference calls more natural and engaging compared before.

How to use Spatial Audio for Teams

The spatial audio is widely available on desktop application by enabling spatial audio on settings then device. However, Microsoft noted that a stereo-capable device such as wired headsets and stereo-capable laptops are needed for it to work.

Currently, the feature is not yet available to Bluetooth devices due to protocol limitation. On the other hand, Microsoft is set to release spatial audio on next generation LE audio with stereo-enabled Bluetooth devices.