Chrome Blog
The latest news from the Google Chrome team
Unmuting the web with Google Chrome
Thursday, April 1, 2010
We’ve long felt that not enough people know what a browser is. Too many people just use the browser that comes with their computer. The time has come for browsers to speak up and be heard. Even though we’ve experimented with visual improvements in the way of 3D
stereoscopy
, we think it’s time for browsers to push the boundaries of what’s possible by using sound to create a magical, immersive experience.
Taking an earful of inspiration from the
HTML5 audio tag
, we’ve spent the past few months deep in psychoacoustic models, the Whittaker-Nyquist-Kotelnikov-Shannon sampling theorem, Franssen effects, Shepard-Risset Tones, and 11.1 surround sound research to build a cutting-edge audio-driven user interface for our users, available through a
new Chrome extension
. With this extension, Chrome will provide audio feedback as you browse to web pages and interact with the browser.
To experience the web with auditory feedback,
download Google Chrome
(if you haven’t already),
install the extension
, turn up the volume, and enjoy the biggest increase in your browsing productivity since the blink tag. Mundane operations like opening and closing tabs,
searching
,
navigating
, even debugging the browser and much more will never be the same.
Now that we’ve nailed sight and sound, we’ll look at bringing olfactory magic to the browsing experience. We hope to deliver that by
next year
at this time.
Posted by Kay, Rakowski, and Chan from the Psychoacoustics Research Division of the Google Chrome Team
Labels
3d
53
accessibility
apps
chrome
Chrome Blog
chrome for a cause
chrome notebook
chrome os
chrome web store
chromebook
college basketball
cr-48
demo lab
demolab
extensions
Flash
google cloud print
googlenew
holidays
HTML5
instant
lab tech
mac
web apps
webgl
webrtc
Archive
2016
Sep
Aug
May
Apr
Mar
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feed
Google
on
Follow @googlechrome
Follow
All things Google Chrome
Download Chrome
Download Chrome for Mobile
Chromium Blog
Chromium homepage
Follow