Microsoft's Project Soundscape was established back in 2017, as a unique form of navigation technology that offered 3D, augmented reality audio to experience surroundings in an immersive manner. Launched on the iOS in the following year, the application touted not only ambient sound, but also featured "audio beacons" to get various audio cues from a point of interest depending on how the user approached it.
Today, the Redmond firm has announced that the Soundscape project has reached its conclusion from a research perspective, with the project becoming available as open-source software on January 3. More specifically, the app's source code will be released on GitHub on the aforementioned date, complete with documentation on how to build and use it.
Microsoft commented on this move as a "community-driven approach", noting that:
As Microsoft Research continues to expand into new accessibility innovation areas, we hope the open-source software release of the Soundscape code supports the community in further developing confidence and utility of spatial audio navigation experiences.
As a result of this move, the Soundscape app will become unavailable for download from the App Store. However, those who have already installed it will be able to use it through June 2023. The same will hold for Azure services that enabled the app, while bugs and service disruptions will be addressed during the same timeframe as well. Notably, the open-source release will only support iOS, just like the original project.
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