A personal safety system detects imminent danger or other event of interest and then modifies a sound panorama to focus a user's attention towards the direction of the danger or other event of interest. The personal safety system may isolate sounds originating from the direction of the danger or other event of interest, collapse the sound panorama towards the direction of the danger or other event of interest, or compress the sound panorama to align with the direction of the danger or other event of interest. The personal safety system may be integrated into an automobile or a wearable system physically attached to the user. Advantageously, the attention of the user may be drawn towards imminent danger or other events of interest without introducing additional sensory information to the user, thereby reducing the likelihood of startling or distracting the user.