What does the quietest place on Earth look like, where the absence of sounds drives you crazy?
If you value peace and quiet, you know that sometimes the complete absence of sound can be unbearable. Microsoft engineers have created an anechoic chamber in which absolute silence reigns. It seems that what else does a modern person need, who dreams of taking a break from the hustle and bustle and retiring with his favorite books? But no one can stand in this cell for even one hour.
Excessive silence can cause people serious discomfort. This was established by Microsoft specialists who created the most sound-protected camera. This space will be used for research into new audio technologies. It is located at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington.
The development of the most soundproof room in the world took the company’s specialists two years. The room is so quiet that the person inside can hear blood flowing through the vessels, the heart beating and joints creaking when moving. Due to the lack of reverberation, spatial perception is disrupted, causing dizziness and unbearable ringing in the ears.
Chief Human Factors Engineer Hundraj Gopal from Microsoft told reporters an interesting fact about this facility:
A person going into a room to test himself and her is usually skeptical. But very soon he begins to understand how unbearable the absolute silence is. This place is included in the Guinness Book of Records as the quietest place in the world, where the sound level is 20 decibels below the threshold of perception of the human ear.
The camera is a complex engineering object. Its walls, base and ceiling consist of six layers of concrete and steel. Inside the room there is a unique sound insulation developed by Microsoft specialists. The walls have a special configuration that prevents echoes. Additionally, the camera is supported by springs that absorb any vibrations.
Microsoft's anechoic room is far from the first room of its kind. Soundproof cameras began to be developed in the United States back in the 1940s. Then they tested professional microphones. Over time, the scope of such rooms expanded - they began to be used in the development of audio equipment and for the study of sound waves.
Now such facilities exist in many countries around the world, but the United States remains the leader in this area. The previous record of absolute silence also belonged to the Americans. The camera whose record was broken by Microsoft is located in South Minneapolis at Orfield Laboratories.
Microsoft is conducting a lot of other promising research that is literally on the verge of science fiction.