Clubhouse, an audio-only chat app, said that it will launch a spatial audio feature to make voices sound as if they're coming from different directions, helping conversations and virtual performances feel more life-like.

The app, which is backed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, jumpstarted the social audio trend last year and became known for chatrooms of thousands that included chief executives and celebrities. However, it faces increasing competition from larger tech giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Spotify, which have all introduced their own social audio chat features.

While Clubhouse and other voice chat apps bring people together in virtual social settings, the audio generally sounds relatively flat, like it’s emanating from a single central location. But at the in-person gatherings Clubhouse is meant to simulate, you’d be hearing audio from all around the room, from the left and right of a stage to the various locations in the audience where speakers might ask their questions.

The new surround-sound-like feature will help Clubhouse lean into performances and entertainment rooms that have proliferated on the app.

Depending on how many speakers are in a Clubhouse room and a variety of other factors, the app's technology will assign users a spatial positioning, so that the listener will hear the voices surround them in their headphones, said Justin Uberti, Clubhouse's head of streaming technology.

In comedy rooms for instance, Clubhouse's technology will detect the main speaker and place that person's voice in the "front," while the laughter of other people could sound as if they're coming from a listener's left and right sides, he said.

The spatial technology also makes it easier to detect when different users are speaking, whereas people previously might have to pay attention to the speakers' cadence and vocal timbre, he added.