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    Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die

    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000 Uses 2.4GHz Tech
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of FawnNimpy FawnNimpy
    10/02/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    They should have these in prison so people would literally be in solitary.

    3 days would probably do pretty nicely. :)
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman approved this comment FawnNimpy was starred FawnNimpy was unstarred
    Image of PregoNation PregoNation
    10/02/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    I surprised it hasn't been said yet. But I'd like to drop acid in this thing.
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman approved this comment PregoNation was starred PregoNation was unstarred
    Image of nobodycares nobodycares
    10/02/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    Altered States? remember William Hurt in the sensory deprivation chamber?
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman approved this comment nobodycares was starred nobodycares was unstarred
    Image of PSUSkier PSUSkier
    10/02/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    I was able to stand in the anechoic chamber at the Klipsch facility... I started hearing my pulse after about a minute.
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman promoted this comment PSUSkier was starred PSUSkier was unstarred
    Image of brutek brutek
    10/02/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    I hope that experience provides more appreciation for the hearing impaired.

    I wanted to relate to my son's impairment, so I wore ear plugs for several days (to work, social settings, etc.). It was a very humblng and worthwhile the experience, although I always knew I could take them out, which vastly modifies the true understanding.

    I suggest giving it a try. For those who are not hearing impaired, you will gain a deeper appreciation for sound (at the least).
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman promoted this comment brutek was starred brutek was unstarred
    Image of Hank Scorpio Hank Scorpio
    10/02/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    In a previous job, I worked for a while in the Zenith offices in Glenview just outside of Chicago. (This was right when Zenith was taken over by LG. The old Zenith building is home to AON now). They had a room like that there. Being in it really was a bizarre thing that's not easily explained unless you experience it directly.

    What's even freakier is being in one and turning the lights out!
     Reply
    Hank Scorpio was starred Hank Scorpio was unstarred
    Image of yeptruthhurts yeptruthhurts
    10/02/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    well written, i always wanted to know what being in this room was like

    what i dont get is if it changes our voices so much, then wont it change to sounds from the hardware they test as well? i understand outside sounds dont get in but the sounds on the inside--sound differently?
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman approved this comment yeptruthhurts was starred yeptruthhurts was unstarred
    Image of Wilson Rothman Wilson Rothman
    10/02/09

    @yeptruthhurts: Their reflections sound differently. The original sound itself is pure--but too pure for us to relate to. It's good for diagnostics, but you wouldn't, say, record your acoustic folk album in there.
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman was starred Wilson Rothman was unstarred
    Image of 3waygeek 3waygeek
    10/02/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    "Microsoft uses this newly built chamber to test all kinds of hardware products"

    That's just a cover story -- Ballmer had the chamber built so he'd have someplace where he could scream and throw chairs.
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman promoted this comment 3waygeek was starred 3waygeek was unstarred
    Image of kentsmithnz kentsmithnz
    10/02/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    The silence is deafening
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman promoted this comment kentsmithnz was starred kentsmithnz was unstarred
    Image of avconsumer2 avconsumer2
    10/02/09

    @kentsmithnz: Having experienced one of these first hand, this is no exaggeration.
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman promoted this comment avconsumer2 was starred avconsumer2 was unstarred
    Image of ZeemanCaballerial ZeemanCaballerial
    10/02/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    Paradigm, in Toronto, has the biggest one in North America. It's nuts... when you talk it's like it's coming out of your forehead.
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman approved this comment ZeemanCaballerial was starred ZeemanCaballerial was unstarred
    Image of Reyn Yonashiro Reyn Yonashiro
    10/02/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    Yo Microsoft, I'm really happy for you, and Imma let you finish, but Steve Orfield had one of the best anechoic chambers of all time!
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman promoted this comment Reyn Yonashiro was starred Reyn Yonashiro was unstarred
    Image of Reil: Lifehacker Ninja Stars Reil: Lifehacker Ninja Stars
    10/01/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    I went into this humongous anechoic chamber at NASA's Houston center. It was used to test some satellite equipment. Crazy stuff. Thin, blue, foamy square-pyramids everywhere, even on the floor, except for some bits to stand on to place the device. Those were made of more foam.

    I was actually afraid of falling and stabbing myself before I noticed that they weren't solid, but soft.
     Reply
    Reil: Lifehacker Ninja Stars was starred Reil: Lifehacker Ninja Stars was unstarred
    Image of jjswee jjswee
    10/02/09

    @Reil: Don't Ignore this: I too was in a similar room for an Aerospace company. It was very freaky and kind of scary. I knew if the door didn't open, no one could hear me scream. It was just weird.

    Nice SN btw. Hah.
     Reply
    Reil: Ignore this promoted this comment jjswee was starred jjswee was unstarred
    Image of geodesigner geodesigner
    10/01/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    @ ECHO OFF
     Reply
    Identity less than three promoted this comment geodesigner was starred geodesigner was unstarred
    Image of d1zzle d1zzle
    10/01/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    Let's build one each for the following individuals and padlock/toss key:
    Carrot Top
    Rush Limbaugh
    Oprah
    Gilbert Gottfried
    Kanye West
    Fran Drescher

    That is all.
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman approved this comment d1zzle was starred d1zzle was unstarred
    Image of ThisIsSharksTerritory ThisIsSharksTerritory
    10/01/09

    @d1zzle: I say lets build ONE and toss them ALL in it and install a camera and padlock/toss key
     Reply
    Barry99705 promoted this comment ThisIsSharksTerritory was starred ThisIsSharksTerritory was unstarred
    Image of Barry99705 Barry99705
    10/01/09

    @ThisIsSharksTerritory: My money's on Carrot Top. Dude has some guns! I remember when he was just a skinny geek.
     Reply
    Barry99705 was starred Barry99705 was unstarred
    Image of badhatharry badhatharry
    10/02/09

    @d1zzle: Gallagher. I fucking hate that guy.
     Reply
    badhatharry was starred badhatharry was unstarred
    Image of zjgz zjgz
    10/01/09

    In reply to Microsoft's Anechoic Chamber: The Place Where Sound Goes To Die
    How do people go mad in a place like that? Is it a result of sensory deprivation?
     Reply
    zjgz was starred zjgz was unstarred
    Image of tyskkvinna tyskkvinna
    10/01/09

    @zjgz: Yes. We depend on our senses far more than we'd like to admit usually.

    For several years I worked in a planetarium. It had a couple of layers of light protection so that when inside absolutely NO outside light came in. It took me a good six months to get used to being in the dark all the time, and that wasn't total blackness - you still had some lights from various equipment. One day I spent several hours there with no lights whatsoever. Just switching into dim light made me extremely dizzy - and then I realised that for the first hour of total dark I'd had the same symptoms but couldn't identify it as dizzy because I had nothing to relate it to.

    Sound is even worse because we use our inner ears for a lot of balance and perception.

    I imagine a quick road to going mad would be to go into one of these anechoic chambers in total darkness.
     Reply
    Identity less than three promoted this comment tyskkvinna was starred tyskkvinna was unstarred
    Image of ID Ron Burgundy ID Ron Burgundy
    10/02/09

    @tyskkvinna: Yikes! Complete darkness in an anechoic chamber? *shudders*

    I've been in complete darkness also for extended amounts of time. It's pretty creepy, and time seemed to go so slowly.
     Reply
    ID Ron Burgundy was starred ID Ron Burgundy was unstarred
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