It would be nice to tune into the world without taking off my headphones.
Thats the premise behind Auracast, a new broadcasting feature coming to Bluetooth.
Auracast has been around for a couple of years, but its about to take off significantly.
The Auracast experience on an iPhone 15 Pro.Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo
More manufacturers are on board with the ability, including the ones youre already sticking in your ear.
For instance, I updated theGalaxy Buds Pro 2with Auracast capability last week.
(Regular Bluetooth is limited to about 10 meters or over 30 feet.)
An example of an Auracast transmitter.Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo
Auracast gave me a controlled demonstration of the capability at their CES meeting room.
The walkthrough was structured as a Day in the Life of a traveling Auracast user.
Each TV had an Auracast transmitter.
My mannequin co-worker.Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo
Then we went to the airport Gate.
I could tune in to the Gate agent to listen in for any pertinent boarding announcements.
I also met up with my co-workersstylishly dressed mannequinswho listened to their own thing.
Here’s a tiny look at some of the Auracast-enabled launches this year.Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo
It feels as native as tapping into any app on your smartphone.
But this was a closed demonstration, and Im curious how outside variables will affect Auracasts capability.
Still, I worry about how it could be exploited to mess with a mass of folks.
Overall, it seems like an option that will bother people less, which is my kind of technology.
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