Most conversations around inflight entertainment focus on the video capabilities of the systems. As part of its new Astrova line of IFE hardware, Panasonic Avionics plans to address the audio quality as well. The company announced plans to bring Spatial Audio – a 3D theatrical surround sound experience – to airline passengers, in partnership with HEAR360.
Spatial Audio provides passengers with a comparable experience to a home theater system they would enjoy on the ground, while enabling airlines to offer premium audio and remain efficient with their media spending.
– Andy Masson, Vice President, Product Management of Panasonic Avionics
HEAR360’s proprietary audio technology allows Panasonic to deliver all IFE content, whether live or on demand, in 3D Spatial Audio. This upgraded listening experience is delivered over any wired or Bluetooth wireless headphones or earbuds.
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With Spatial Audio as part of their IFE offering, airlines will not need to change their media procurement processes or deliverables, as no special media encoding or file types are required, thereby ensuring no increase in their media spend.
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Panasonic Avionics is the first IFE provider to bring Spatial Audio to the skies. The company notes Spatial Audio is “integral to the next phase of Panasonic Avionics’ continued innovation efforts” across all cabin experiences.
Matt Marrin, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of HEAR360, added, “We are thrilled to partner with Panasonic Avionics to give all passengers an unparalleled immersive and engaging inflight experience using our revolutionary audio technology. Being content and device agnostic not only means we democratize best-in-class audio for everyone to enjoy, it provides Panasonic Avionics and its airline customers with immediate scalability in a cost-effective manner.”
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