Google’s Sound Notifications extends your hearing using your phone’s mic
- Google announced a sound notification feature for Android.
- The accessibility feature provides distracted or hard-of-hearing people with visual notifications of “critical” noises.
- Detected noises include dog barking, door knocking, and running water.
Google is building its audio recognition technology to improve human hearing in the home. The company announced a new accessibility feature called Sound Notifications, which will give users visual warnings of loud or “critical” noises.
The feature is based on Live Transcribe technology to detect ambient noise from the company and can detect up to 10 different noises including dog barking, alarm sirens, running water, crying babies and door knocking. If any of these tones are noticed nearby, Google will ping the user’s phone with a notification describing the tone. The feature also works with WearOS, so users who don’t have their phones to hand immediately can get the information too.
Since some noises, such as For example, if dog barks are due to other sounds, Google also records sound events on a timeline so that users can visualize and understand the context of the sounds around them.
While Sound Notifications relies on your phone’s microphone, Google protects against user privacy concerns by saying that the process is done offline through your smartphone’s processing muscle. However, you still have to use the microphone authorization switch for this function to work. This could be a deal breaker for some.
For others, however, the benefits are obvious. The notifications seem pretty useful for those who are not near the sound or struggling with their hearing clarity. It’s also great for those who wear noise-canceling headphones or earbuds at home while working or relaxing.
Users can take advantage of the feature by downloading the Live Transcribe app from Google on their phones. You can do just that by clicking the button below. To turn it on, go to Settings> Accessibility menu> Sound notifications.
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