Doritos has launched an AI powered software tool to cancel the crunch sound heard from snacking on chips in audio chats.
The Doritos Silent tech is targeted at PC gamers. According to Doritos, hearing fellow players crunch hinders their performance during gaming sessions.
The solution is available to download online, runs only on Windows and was developed over six months with partner Smooth Technology by analysing thousands of snippets of crunches.
set the idea of ‘making Doritos silent’ through images of the chips acting in place of noise-canceling headphones.
The campaign ran in the U.S., U.K., Spain, Poland, Brazil and Portugal.
Doritos has been teasing the launch with ads showcasing an image of a Doritos chip in an ear, with the cheeky message ‘You won’t hear it coming’.
Karina Stoltz, Senior Brand Manager at Doritos UK, said: “It’s been hard to keep this one quiet, but we are finally able to reveal the launch of ‘Doritos Silent’ powered by our ‘crunch cancellation’ technology.
“We know that the nation loves the satisfying crunch of Doritos, but listening to someone else enjoy them can be off-putting. That’s why we set out to develop the first-ever AI-augmented ‘silent’ snack, and after months of expert development, people across the country can finally crunch Doritos down a microphone without making a sound.”
Doritos is porting over the concept to the gaming arena, seeking to alleviate frustrations stemming from having to listen to other players eat during online play sessions.
According to research from NewZoo, the goal is to reach the 80 per cent of Gen Z and millennial consumers who view themselves as gamers
The crunch-cancellation software allows users able to activate a button that should filter out any munching noises they make while playing games.
The tool was built with help from Smooth Technology, a Brooklyn-based creative engineering and design studio, and spearheaded by Doritos’ U.K. arm.
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