Separated Sound Zone technology – audio zones in the car

Separated sound technology — (graphic: Hyundai)

Artur Owczarek

Brand Product Manager Moje AutoHe has been involved in the automotive industry for years. He is passionate about cars and detailing. On his blog, he shares his knowledge and experience, offering tips on how to effectively care for your car and extend its life.

Everyone likes different music and listens to different things, so when traveling in a larger company, it is difficult to create a playlist that will suit everyone. There are often exchanges of opinions and even quarrels, especially if preferences are really different. You can, of course, use headphones, but this limits communication between passengers and is not always convenient. Hyundai Motor Group found a solution to this problem and proposed the new Separated Sound Zone technology.

SSZ, that is Separated Sound Zone is a system that allows you to adjust the sound to each passenger and driver individually. Everyone can listen to what they like best. Already since 2014 Hyundai working on this solution. It informs us that it has been refined almost to perfection, but we still cannot use it. However, as he announces, this may change soon.

What is SSZ actually about?

You are probably wondering how it is possible to listen to various music in such a small space without using headphones. Well, producers and originators used solutions typical for headphones. It allows you to reduce ambient noise. The interior of the car is equipped with several speakers that emit sound in a specific direction and neutralize the sound waves that come from the other speakers. We can listen to the music of our choice and at the same time have the freedom to communicate with other passengers and the driver.

From a technical point of view, it looks like this: acoustic waves being the source of sound read using a microphone. They are analyzed based on an advanced algorithm and an appropriate signal is generated from the loudspeaker, responsible for eliminating the original wave.

Much more possibilities

However, Separated Sound Zone is not only about listening to different music. It is also a separate hands-free system for each passenger and driver. This affects the comfort and convenience of traveling. While the driver can hear navigation messages, children sitting in the back or a friend in the front passenger seat cannot. So you can freely listen to your favorite music. Drivers are not distracted by the sounds of music they don't necessarily like and can concentrate on the road.

Hyundai-Kia is one of those manufacturers that is committed to the development of self-driving vehicles. They assume that traveling by car can be even more enjoyable than before, combining driving with entertainment. This is especially important on long routes, when we need to relax and unwind. For the driver, this means better driving conditions conducive to concentration and concentration.

Do we have to wait much longer?

Work on the Separated Sound Zone system has been going on for 4 years. Hyundai-Kia has not yet decided to implement it in specific models of its cars. He strived to achieve satisfactory results and perfection in this area, which is why he perfected his product with great care. However, it seems that he has already made great strides to be able to offer customers cars with SSZ technology in the near future. As promised, they are to appear within the next 2 years.

Other passenger car manufacturers are already familiar with the technology. For this reason, it cannot be ruled out that the competition will not create something similar and overtake the originator by introducing vehicles with audio zones to the market before Hyundai. So who will be first?