A sound version of Google Maps

A ‘sound version of Google Maps’ could be created by a new concept headphone technology, with people able to replay conversations, music and ambient noise from their past.

The technology, known only as Sound Innovation, is a collaboration between Fujitsu and Yamaha. The system comprises a pair of wireless earbuds with built-in GPS, Bluetooth and microphone. Sound recording starts autonomously and is uploaded to a cloud-based artificial intelligence platform via a smartphone. The idea? You could revisit a location many years later and hear once again what you heard in the past. All sounds are geo-tagged to a location and playback starts automatically when someone wearing the earbuds enters a certain area.

It’s all a bit Black Mirror, but a Fujitsu spokesperson told WIRED the concept was about creating, “emotional services.” As well as location-tracking and a microphone, the earbuds are also able to intelligently focus on certain sounds, so would hone-in on a street musician playing a cello rather than the sound of a passing truck.

The concept is still at a very early stage and Fujitsu developers haven’t decided if the sounds recorded would be kept private to each individual user or shared so anyone can listen. One option, according to the spokesperson, might be to use artificial intelligence to analyse the audio and determine what should be kept private and what can be shared publicly.

Developers are also working to introduce additional sensors to the concept that would allow the earbuds to sense how someone is feeling and play appropriate audio. In a demonstration video, the company showed someone walking through a city and hearing street music playing, while in another example, a visitor to an empty basketball arena was able to hear the sound of a game from the past.

In addition to the earbuds, the system includes a small pyramid-shaped box called Broadcaster that could be dotted around a city or venue to constantly monitor and record ambient sound. A separate speaker system could also connect to the Broadcaster to play sounds out loud. The earbud system itself might even be used as an aid for the hard of hearing that is able to amplify relevant sounds.

The project, shown for the first time at Fujitsu’s annual conference in Tokyo, is a long way from being anything other than a prototype. As well as technological challenges the company will also have address inevitable privacy concerns. Though with the rise of AI-powered assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home, a pair of headphones that are always listening might not be so far-fetched.