How would you like to work in the most quiet room ever? Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington has it. This computer lab in Microsoft’s Building 88?even made the Guinness Book of World Records.
A tech insider named Matt Weinberger spend five minutes in this contraption. Microsoft lab engineer Gopal Gopal (I’m assuming that’s his real name) gave him the tour. Why is this room so quiet? It’s because this ‘anechoic chamber’ needs complete silence for audio testing. Here, they tests Surface tablets, laptops, Skype calls, and other Microsoft based products and services. One picture shows Gopal using a robot for microsoft testing. ?They need absolute silence for these tests. They didn’t just want a quiet room; they took it to the extreme. The most silent this world can ever record is -23 decibels. That’s sound molecules playing off each other. Microsoft’s anechoic chamber stands in at -20 decibles. You can hardly hear yourself talk. You hear no noise coming from outside or within. Gopal had to shout at maximum capacity just so Weinberger can hear him. The negative decibles quiet out normal conversation. But Gopal believes this extreme silence is necessary. He tested quiet sounds of a Surface Tablet’s power supply and fan.
So, in Gopal’s science, such crazy silence is golden. But is it sane? Weinberger stated he was on the brink of madness in that anechoic chamber. Gopal himself felt the clutches of insanity gripping him. When I’m at my desk, I need noise. It has to be music, news, a movie, TV show, conversations in the other room, something! I can’t go an hour in total silence. And I work in a regular office on a busy street in downtown Boston, MA. I can’t imagine being in a -23 decibels office all day. I hope Gopal can take breaks, like every 30 minutes. I’d need to experience the real world in an hourly basis if I’m to work in those extreme conditions. Gopal has an admirable work ethic that goes above and beyond the call. Could you work in the most quiet room ever?