CES starts tomorrow. Here come the cool new audio toys.

CES, the biggest showcase of consumer electronics in the world, begins today in Las Vegas. In addition to introducing the new tech and gadgets we’ll see over the next year, companies take the opportunity to show off what they’re working on for the future.

High-resolution immersive audio (Dolby ATMOS, Sony 360, Apple Spatial Audio) is growing in popularity. Google doesn’t want to be left out of this, so they’ve developed something called Immersive Audio Model and Formats (IAMF).

This is a new type of movie-quality audio with a real 3D effect. How’s that?

• Audio that’s spread vertically as well as from left-right.
• The use of AI and deep-learning technology to automatically adjust audio levels for different scenes in TV and movies (my wife will LOVE this).
• All kinds of customization features.

Google says “Whether mixing for film, game or music, we envision IAMF opening up new ways for sound engineers to create immersive experiences all the way to the end users.”

“Mixing for music?” Apple and Dolby will be most interested in what’s going on here, especially since IAMF tech will be available to everyone license-free. In other words, they’re hoping to do for the world of audio what they did for smartphones by making Android usable by any manufacturer for free.