CONCEPTS SPOTIFY CAR THING HOW TO
CONCEPTS SPOTIFY CAR THING UPDATE
CONCEPTS SPOTIFY CAR THING ANDROID
CONCEPTS SPOTIFY CAR THING SOFTWARE

CONCEPTS SPOTIFY CAR THING ANDROID

Android TV saw more than 80% growth in the U.S.Google boosted there are now more than 80 million monthly active Android TV devices out there in the world, which includes the company's own Chromecast with Google TV dongle.

CONCEPTS SPOTIFY CAR THING UPDATE

This week, Google held a virtual edition of its annual Google I/O developer conference, with a stage setup that looked like it was cribbed from 'The Good Place.' And speaking of TV references: Google used I/O to give developers an update on its Android TV platform as well as other smart home initiatives that tie into home entertainment devices like the company's Nest smart displays. What's next for Google's TV and smart home efforts Referencing the old adage that Inuits have dozens of words for snow, Beckmann joked: 'After working with GoPro, we know 20 words for wind noise.' Turns out that making audio work on a surfboard helps a lot when optimizing it on a dashboard.

The company has been helping GoPro to add wind noise suppression to the company's action cameras. However, DSP Concepts could rely on some past expertise to deal with blasting ACs. 'The vent noise was surprising,' Beckmann told me. Among other options, Spotify ships Car Thing with a vent mount, and many consumers find that the vent grille really is the only option to add another screen to their car - which makes voice isolation all the more challenging. The biggest challenge: car dashboards, which are notoriously overcrowded. 'Even American cars aren't that big,' Beckmann said. In a car, the person requesting the next song is never more than a few feet away. On the flip side, smart speakers need to optimize for voice commands uttered from across the room.That's why DSP Concepts did extensive recording and testing in real cars to optimize the signal processing. In essence, Car Thing needs to work more like a smart speaker, which consumers may place in many different environments.Car Thing, on the other hand, is very much a DIY solution consumers decide where they want to place it, and the device needs to work with whatever car they own, no matter how old or banged-up it is. 'It doesn't have access to the music signal,' Beckmann said.Ī carmaker also has complete control over the positioning of microphones and the acoustic qualities of each cabin component. That setup makes isolating voice commands, and filtering out noise, a lot harder.Car Thing makes it easier to pick songs, playlists and podcasts while keeping eyes on the road, but the phone is still providing connectivity, and sending the audio via Bluetooth or line-in to the car stereo.The device functions as an interface for the Spotify app on your phone. However, Car Thing is very different from your typical in-car entertainment system. Beckmann and his team were also able to provide input on the placement of the four microphones used by Car Thing for hands-free voice control.

CONCEPTS SPOTIFY CAR THING HOW TO

DSP Concepts has been working on audio for carmakers like Tesla, Mercedes and BMW, giving the company a pretty good idea of how to deal with these environmental sounds.

The company was tapped to help develop the device's voice recognition, which includes what Spotify calls 'adaptive interference cancellation' - algorithms that make sure Car Thing listens to voice commands, and not the lyrics of the song that's playing, backseat chatter, engine sounds or freeway noise.

'We like to get involved early,' he told me.

DSP Concepts worked on Car Thing for roughly 12 to 15 months, Beckmann said.

DSP Concepts CTO Paul Beckmann recently filled me in on how his team helped turn Car Thing from an idea into a real thing.

CONCEPTS SPOTIFY CAR THING SOFTWARE

To make voice recognition for Car Thing work, Spotify relied on DSP Concepts, a Santa Clara-based startup that has built a software platform for audio hardware development. So when Spotify set out to develop Car Thing, its new automotive display device, it got help from outside experts. Making hardware is hard, especially for companies with no prior expertise in consumer electronics. The technology behind Spotify's Car Thing

Concepts spotify car thing