Nokia has just made the world's first-ever "immersive" call as the phone maker successfully integrated 3D spatial technology into mobile devices for more life-like conversations even from far away.
In a press release on Monday, Nokia unveiled the new 3GPP Immersive Voice and Audio Services as the "biggest leap forward" from the standard phone calls of today.
Current audio and video phone calls often sound flat and less detailed due to data compressions and monophonic quality in regular calls, a problem the new IVAS technology aims to resolve.
As of writing, the Nokia 3D spatial call can already be used even on regular mobile phones as the company moves to bring its services to telecoms, other devices, and public networks.
The company touted the new patent-pending technology as part of its new 5G Advanced Network rollout towards "enhanced extended reality and metaverse applications."
When will the 3D Spatial Call Become Available to the Public?
While Nokia has already made great advances for the more "immersive" phone calls this year, the feature is not expected to arrive anytime soon.
The 5G advanced network is currently touted as a direct replacement for the 5G networks of today, which would take years to become available for mass consumption.
This is not to mention the licensing and distribution efforts Nokia first needs to clear before the technology becomes accessible to all users.
Even in the same press release, the company did not provide any specific end dates for when the technology will be released, only claiming to have "demonstrated the future of voice calls."
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Other Tech Giants Move to Develop Spatial Technology
While Nokia's promised spatial technology might be years away, the phone maker is not the only company currently building mixed-reality features to improve users' call experience.
Over the past months, Apple and Samsung have released new VR headsets already capable of 3D spatial calls.
It would not be a surprise if other companies soon arrived at the same technology as Nokia before the tech firm rolled out its "immersive" phone calls.
