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Soon, anyone with mild to moderate hearing loss who visits the historical St Paul's Cathedral will be able to tune in to improved audio feed using the Bluetooth earbuds already in their pockets or the clinical-grade hearing aids in their ears.
It's all thanks to a groundbreaking new trial run by Samsung, which is testing a new Bluetooth standard in one of the most famous cathedrals in the UK. Dubbed Auracast, this wireless technology works like a radio transmission — offering high-quality audio in challenging acoustic environments.
There's no need to worry about pairing everyone's Bluetooth earbuds separately. Auracast, which was developed as part of the Bluetooth Low Energy Audio standard first introduced back in 2022, lets device owners tap on the feed they'd like to tune into — like choosing a radio station.
Auracast can deliver a crystal-clear feed from a single transmitter, which makes it ideal for venues like St Paul's Cathedral, since there's no need to blanket its historic interior with wires and transmitters.
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Samsung has updated its Galaxy Buds3 Pro wireless earbuds to support the technology, which also works with clinical-grade hearing aids, like those from GN. The next major software release from Samsung, dubbed One UI 8, will also bring wider compatibility with this Bluetooth-powered system when it launches in the coming months.
In future, instead of queuing to collect a pair of headphones from the tour guide, visitors to St Paul's Cathedral will be able to use the Bluetooth 'buds on them to tune-in to the tour. Features like active noise-cancellation and personalised tuning will continue to work when you're listening in to the guided tour.
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When moving between different devices or spaces, the sound will follow you seamlessly with no need to manually pair with each new transmitter in the venue.
Samsung has also trialled this burgeoning technology in the echo-prone nave during a tour and a choir performance. Using Auracast microphones and transmitters directly into participants’ Galaxy Buds3 Pro or GN hearing aids, Samsung wants to eliminate distracting background noise to enhance clarity.
The trial was an opportunity to test Auracast with Galaxy Buds3 Pro as well as clinical-grade hearing aids
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Samsung revealed its progress on Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). It follows a recent study from the South Korean brand that revealed over two-thirds (68%) of UK adults with disabilities feel excluded from products and services due to accessibility issues.
With more tests planned, hopefully visitors to St Pauls will be able to use this Auracast technology soon.
However, Samsung's ambitions extend well beyond St Paul's Cathedral. In the near future, it believes Auracast broadcasts could be used in stadiums, airports, cafés and lecture halls — anywhere you need a shared audio stream without the fuss of pairing each individual person and each one of their devices.
Like joining a public Wi-Fi network, those with hearing difficulties or who prefer to listen via earbuds could tune-in to Auracast at the airport or train station to hear announcements in your earbuds or hearing aids.
Environments where those with hearing difficulties struggle, like onboard flights, could also benefit from a permanent Auracast stream.
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The Auracast system only requires a single transmitter to broadcast high-quality audio to everyone who has decided to join the stream
SAMSUNG PRESS OFFICE
Speaking about the advances, Samsung UK, Head of People Experience, Charlotte Grant said: "At Samsung, we are proud of our ongoing commitment to increasing the accessibility of experiences through our innovation and we were delighted to partner with GN and Ampetronic to showcase Auracast at St Paul’s Cathedral.
"It was fantastic to take people through a innovative experience with inclusive technology and a great way to end our Accessibility Festival Week in the UK. We are committed to directly involving our customers and employees in our decision-making by taking on their feedback to improve our products and services, and help support our mission to inspire a culture of inclusive design across our organisation, into our products and beyond."
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