Do you know the true power and capability of sound? What if you could simply close your eyes and trick your mind into thinking that you were in the rainforest simply by sound? In a bustling street in New York? In your favorite classroom? The possibilities are endless when it comes to the hopes of 3-D sound to provide an immersive experience that will take you to a completely different place without having to leave the comfort of your own living room.

3-D sound has been technology largely forgotten by many around the world, but it definitely has far more potential for mass adoption. This technology is not just surround sound, but rather a true-to-life listening experience that mimics what people experience every day in their lives. So what have we done to embrace this forgotten technology into society to provide many with this true-to-life listening experience?

Hooke is a pair of wireless headphones that utilize the technology of 3-D sound. They are not only capable of emitting sound for the listener, but can record sounds as well! Recording is possible by having two microphones placed at your ears, which will allow the headset to record binaurally. Thus, when a listener plays back the sound or audio clip, the person will hear it the way he or she heard the sound in their environment. After finishing up a successful crowd-funding campaign, Hooke headphones should be available on the market for customers in a few upcoming months. According to the Hooke founder Anthony Mattana, “3-D audio is the magic that is difference between just a recording and sharing an actual experience. Imagine feeling the same thing far away from the person who was actually there all through sound. With Hooke this is finally possible.”

What do Mustangs think of the new Hooke headphones and its use of 3-D sound technology? Maggie Shi (10) states, “I think it’s really innovative because it takes the usual, practical use of headphones but brings it another technological step further by doing the opposite and actually ‘take in’ sound, record it and feed it back. I would definitely buy it because it’s both convenient and has qualities of what would otherwise be in two separate devices.”

This form of technology is clearly a bright possibility for our future of not only sharing pleasurable experiences, but the way we are able to learn and remember things as well! What if you had to miss class for a day or needed to remember an important lecture? It wouldn’t be a problem if many of us had Hooke headphones and simply recorded it for future reference. Technology is certainly getting more interesting and advancing at an unbelievably rapid rate; it is only a small matter of time before 3-D sound and other 3-D projects will be all around us.