Spatial Audio in Teams Meetings allows the audio to reflect the relative position of the speaker

The Microsoft Teams developers have been busy adding new features lately and along with 3D Avatars, has now added spatial audio to Microsoft Teams meetings. The feature, which is currently in Public Preview, allows users to hear the voices of other meeting participants coming from their relative positions on the meeting screen.

This feature is designed to make meetings more immersive and natural and to help users better follow conversations when multiple people are speaking at once.

To use spatial audio in Teams, users will need to have a compatible device. Currently, this includes wired stereo headsets or built-in stereo speakers. Users will also need to be in a meeting that is using the Gallery view.

How to try out Spatial Audio in Teams

To enable spatial audio, users can go to the Teams settings menu and select “Devices.” Under “Speakers,” users will see a toggle for “Spatial audio.”

Microsoft also says that it is also working to support more devices and meeting views.

If you are a Microsoft Teams user, you can try out spatial audio by joining a meeting that is using the Gallery view and enabling the feature in the Teams settings menu. Spatial audio is currently only available in preview, but it is a promising new feature that could make meetings more immersive and natural.

When you can hear the voices of other participants coming from their relative positions on the screen, it can be easier to focus on the conversation and to stay engaged, much like when you attend an in-person meeting and look around the room at the speaker. This can be especially helpful in long meetings or meetings with a lot of participants.

If you are looking for a way to make your Microsoft Teams meetings more immersive and productive, spatial audio is a great option to consider.

As highlighted by Tom Arbuthnot on Twitter, Microsoft Teams Public Preview: Spatial audio is available for Windows and Mac clients (not the web) and works with wired stereo headsets or built-in stereo speakers. Wireless headsets are not currently supported.

You will get the best spatial effect with three or more attendees in the meeting. 1:1 calls and large meetings with more than 100 attendees are not yet supported.