The sound comes from Subnautica, the underwater survival game developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment and fully released in 2018. In the game the handheld Scanner is a core tool used on fauna, flora and technology to add entries to the databank and progress toward blueprints. Clips of the distinctive scan audio later spread through gaming videos, edits and soundboards, detached from gameplay. It remains popular because the rising beeps communicate identification instantly without any words, making it reusable for reveals, examinations and sci-fi themed jokes across many types of videos.