For those of you with kids, you may have experienced that moment when you’re on the open road, deep into exploring your music and the kid says something like: “Dad, I hate this. Can I listen to my storybook?”
You sigh to yourself, as you negotiate disappointment at having to end your personal jol just to keep the peace, because you know that kid’s request is just going to get louder as the miles roll by.
Well, Kia has just launched a gadget to enable everyone to get their way. Kia’s next-generation Separated Sound Zone (SSZ) technology now allows each passenger to listen to different music.
And this can happen without headphones, thus preserving what little social contact we have left in this media-sodden world.
Headphones can be such an unnecessary social barrier between people.
SSZ means there are many speakers installed, while it creates and controls the acoustic field of the car, accessing next level tech that negates the overlap of sounds being heard in each seat, creating the same effect as current noise cancellation systems, but without the need for headphones.
In addition, this technology can eliminate unnecessary sounds for the passenger, but provide them for the driver.
This means the driver will hear navigation sounds and alerts while the SSZ maintains a quiet area for the other passengers.