Hacker News Reader

Comment by gooderist | Hacker News Reader

Shameless plug: My company also makes virtual surround sound software for headphones. But unlike other solutions (like Atmos and Airpods Pro) we generate your HRTF from a photo of your ear using machine learning. If you're interested in this stuff, please check us out too: https://embody.co/

View on HN

Hey! I bought a Sony headphone some time ago (WH-H900N, if you're wondering) and it told me to take a photo of my ear as well. Now I know why :)

I've seen a couple companies (Sony, Creative Labs, etc) do the ear photo thing like us but from what I recall they only use the photo to match you against a library of HRTFs. Our approach generates a unique HRTF for each user. But yes, I would expect to see a whole lot more of this in the near future from all the headphone makers.

How much is your product better at identifying footsteps in PUBG than a traditional headset?

Hi, we don't sell headsets. Our software works with any pair of headphones. Really the comparison is how well does our personalized HRTFs perform for you compared to the generic HRTF that comes with PUBG. And I think this is a question that is better answered with a demo than a forum reply. Please give Immerse a try, we have free trials for everything.

> Our software works with any pair of headphones.

On mobile it looks the gaming version of Immerse is only available for headphones made by a few manufacturers. Which version should I choose for AKG or Sennheiser?

Not only on mobile. What would I get for a Steelseries headset?

Thanks for checking us out! I'm sorry about the confusion. Please try the Audio-Technica build. Despite the description, all the builds work with any pair of headphones. We do tune the EQ to improve the experience for specific headsets (hence the different versions). But in the Audio-Technica build there is a "Generic Headset" option. We will also be releasing tunings for more headsets very soon, but any of the builds should give you a good idea of what we're about.

Any plans to support a DT-1990 or HD-600s? I was wondering if the Beyer build may be better but I have no idea what drivers are in these; should I go with the AT build that you mentioned? (I'm mostly interested in gaming and media consumption, despite my cans)

Also I'm not entirely certain why I'd want a subscription as opposed to a one time purchase, do ears change very much over time? (Not saying your pricing is unfair or anything, just curious.)

That sounds interesting! Whats the url on your website where I upload my right ear image, enter my cc details for a one time payment and get to download my HRTF in the standard AES69 format?

This comment may not be entirely serious, but there are people out there- myself included- who would pay for the described service.

Thanks for the comment. I do hope we can offer such a service someday. But for now, the direct to consumer sofa file market is not one that lends itself to building a sustainable business around. Eventually, when HRTFs are as commonplace as prescription glasses...

That's really cool! I'd hoped custom HRTFs would become more prevalent, as using these one-size-fits-all HRTFs is a bit of a shame.

Are photos really enough to get a good result, though? I'd imagine e.g. internal bone structure and layout of the ear canals to have quite an impact as well.

I'm not really allowed to share numbers right now, but our algorithms produce very accurate models as compared to actual anechoic chamber measurements. And we have things in the pipeline which take that accuracy even further. But do feel free to try us out for yourself. As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding.

I realize this is, at least most directly, a 'me' problem, but I can't remember the last time I had so much trouble trying to get a website to work with uMatrix. I've given up twice now, to be honest.

Sorry to hear about the issues you're seeing. I've forwarded your comments to our web team. Thanks for bringing it up!

I’m wondering to what extent do you modify the incoming streams. Is there a description of the process or a before-after sample?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com