Kia to introduce Separated Sound Zone tech within two years

By ahmadzulizwan, 13 August 2018
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Kia Motors Corporation has revealed the Separated Sound Zone (SSZ) technology which allows for each passenger in a vehicle to have a specific audio stream of their liking, and all of them enjoying it at the same time. What this means is that while a driver may choose to listen to commands from the voice navigation system, one passenger can listen to music, while another can carry a phone conversation, with none of them interrupting the other. And all without the use of headphones.

SSZ technology creates and controls the acoustic field in the car, isolating and localising each audio stream. Manu speakers are used throughout the cabin and feature technology to reduce or increase audio levels of sound waves. This is how the overlap of sounds can be avoided. Audiophiles would certainly know of the term ‘phase cancellation’, and this takes it to a whole different ball game.

“Customers in the autonomous navigation era will demand increasingly customisable entertainment options within their vehicles, which includes technological innovations such as the Separated Sound System,” says Kang-duck Ih, Research Fellow at Kia’s NVH Research Lab.

The SSZ technology has been in the works since 2014 and is expected to be ready for mass production in vehicles within a year or two.

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