Doritos has released what it’s called ‘crunch cancellation’ software that silences that horrible crunching sound gamers across the globe will be all-too familiar with.
Anyone who plays games with friends online will be familiar with the annoying sound that streaks through your headset when a teammate is munching on a snack. So Doritos enlisted the help of a software developer who used artificial intelligence to strip that sound out of comms.
Software developer Dylan Fashbaugh trained the AI on the sound of over 5,000 Doritos crunches over the course of half a year, then separated the voice from the crunch to remove the annoying sound from the audio.
Fashbaugh demos the tech in the video below:
When it comes to Doritos, Crunch Cancellation actually works well enough, with the user free to talk while eating. Things break down a bit when it comes to other snacks, a PC Gamer investigation found. So if you’re eating Doritos or something with a similar crunch, you’re fine. Eat something with a different eating sound, however, and you’re out of luck.
Doritos said research showed 46% of UK adults dislike the sound of other people eating, and 35% of UK adults find the sound of others crunching on snacks distracting. As a lapsed owner of a Destiny clan, I can say I sit firmly in both camps.
This research, by the way, also found 86% of “gamers” claimed they ate snacks while playing (you monsters). 29% of gamers said the sound of someone snacking impacts their performance (yep, I’m going with this), and 18% said it actually makes them want to log off.
You can download the software for free for use on PC.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
