3 advantages and a disadvantage

The bluetooth standard is being improved thanks to a technology called Auracast. This allows you to stream sound to an infinite amount of Bluetooth devices. It can also help amplify audio for people with hearing difficulties. We discuss three important benefits of Auracast.

1. Stream to a large audience

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the organization that oversees the standard, is going to roll out a major upgrade for Bluetooth. First, you can stream audio to a large group and that streaming works via broadcasting devices that work with bluetooth. This may include televisions, smartphones and laptops.

Suppose you are on a train, then you can hear via your bluetooth earphones at which station the train stops and for which destinations you can transfer. In the station itself you can hear which train is arriving. The music you were listening to pauses for a moment. Or you are in the waiting room at the dentist and you are told via your headset that it is your turn. The beauty is that the broadcasting device can broadcast to multiple devices at the same time without any problems, while with the current technology only two users can be reached.

2. Solution for people with hearing problems

Furthermore, this solution can provide great added value for people with hearing problems. Normally, they would miss announcements being announced in public places, such as on the train or at events. Thanks to Auracast, they can pick up this audio with their hearing aid. All they have to do is connect their hearing aids to the public bluetooth stream, similar to how you connect to a public Wi-Fi network.

3. It may work with existing technology

Auracast works on the basis of the Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) which is part of the bluetooth 5.2 standard. The Bluetooth SIG hasn’t shared all the details about the new standard yet, but it looks like it will work with existing technology. You can then use it in the long run with the current generation of phones that all work with bluetooth 5.2.

There is also an important limitation to Auracast and that is the maximum range of the bluetooth signal. The Bluetooth SIG doesn’t share any details on this just yet, but if you’re outside the signal limits, you risk missing out on important information. Depending on the location where you use it, Auracast is also more difficult to use that way, because certain jammers can interrupt the signal. Are you curious about the applications of Auracast technology? Let us know in the comments.

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