When many people gather in the same space to work, you will hear the sound of keyboards, the sound of people around you, the sound of impacts caused by the use of stationery, all kinds of sounds may make you want to tuck yourself into a quiet space to do things, however, if you are really crammed into a super quiet space, it may become a kind of torture.
The quietest space on Earth
In Redmond, Washington, a space known as the "silencer room" is located deep in Building 87 of Microsoft's headquarters, where Technologies such as the Surface, the game console Xbox, augmented reality Hololens, and the voice assistant Cortana have all been developed and tested here. Since Microsoft's silencer was built in 2015, it has been considered the quietest space on Earth because of the background noise of -20.6 decibels.
Inaudible does not mean non-existent
What is the concept of a decibel value reaching a negative number? In fact, 0 decibels is not the meaning of absolute silence, but the lowest volume that the human ear can detect, but although the human ear cannot hear, it does not mean that the sound does not exist, which is when negative decibels appear.
In general, the sound of smooth breathing is about 10 decibels, the general speech volume is 60 decibels, and the sound of the jet aircraft taking off is 150 decibels (25 meters apart), and scientists know that the quietest sound is -23 decibels in the vacuum space.
A completely detached room that took two years
LeSalle Munroe, a senior engineer at Microsoft, pointed out that it took them 2 years to design and build the anechoic chamber.
The entire room is located in the middle of 6 floors of concrete walls, each 30 cm thick. There are also 68 shock springs underneath the anechoic chamber, which Microsoft's chief vocal engineer, Hundraj Gopal, points out, so that the muffler doesn't have direct contact with any building.
Zero echo room
The 6.36 square meters of the anechoic chamber is like a cube, and each side is covered with a 1.2-meter-long sound-absorbing sponge, so that the sound-absorbing chamber can absorb 99%-100% of the sound, which also means that the silencer chamber will hardly echo.
Accidentally breaking the world record
Although Gopal pointed out that they initially wanted to create a room that was at least 0 decibels inaudible to the human ear, such a rigorous design accidentally broke the Guinness World Record, making the anechoic chamber the quietest space on earth. Before Microsoft's silencer, the quietest place was at orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, where background noise was -9.4 decibels.
It was quiet or even too quiet
As for what it's like to actually be inside? Although people always want to find a moment of peace when they are in a noisy environment, the silencer room, although quiet, is not peaceful at all.
Gopal said most people who enter the silencer room feel very uncomfortable, and some even run out after a few seconds.
It's like the eyes gradually adjust to the feeling of darkness
For example, Peter Suedfeld, a psychologist at Columbia University who studies sensory deprivation, said that stepping into a silenced room is actually like entering a darkroom, "at first you can't see anything, but your eyes will gradually adapt to the darkness."
"You are the source of sound"
Sedfield points out that in terms of sound, we are actually used to the subtle sounds of the surrounding environment, so when we are in the anechoic room, it also takes a little time for the ears to adjust to this ultra-quiet space.
As you adjust, you'll start to hear your own heartbeat, the sound of your joints moving, your intestines squirming, and even the sound of swallowing— to paraphrase Steve Orfield, founder of Ofield Labs: "The quieter the room, the more you hear... You are the voice."
The senses used to assist the body are deprived
However, this is not a comfortable thing for many people, and some even feel dizzy, O'Field explains, "because the senses you use to balance and control your movements are deprived." If you're there for an hour and a half, you'll probably need a chair."
In the official video released by Microsoft, it is also mentioned that they usually use this room to do things.
The reason for building the space is serious
But this silencer is not designed to make people feel the visceral sound, challenge human limits, or break the Guinness World Record.
Microsoft originally designed this room, mainly to test the sound of electronic products in use, such as the current through the circuit board, will be due to the slight vibration generated by the capacitor humming sound, then you need to detect in the anechoic chamber, try to eliminate noise. In addition, speakers and microphones also need to confirm the performance of the audio in this space.
Opening doors every day is like a new world
Munro, a senior engineer who has been working in the silencer room for a long time, said that every time he opens the silencer room, he always feels like he has a new life. "When you open the door, the sound hits your ears like a waterfall, it's like stepping into a completely different world," he said.