How would you like to work in here?

[mareserinitatis]

A Futuristic Box
In my office, we have what looks like a giant metal box dropped into the middle of the room. If you look inside, however, you get an entirely different feel. It seems futuristic. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all covered with black, elongated pyramids: they are cones that absorb electromagnetic energy.

Comments

[pammalamma]

That is so cool! I've heard about these rooms when I used to work at NI. Bose uses them for testing, too. So, if someone is in there with you, is it true that they have to face you in order for you to hear them speaking, because of the sound absorption?

[mareserinitatis]

Actually, there are two types of anechoic chambers. This one is anechoic with respect to electromagnetic waves, not sound waves. The cones are made of different materials and have a different shape than one that is anechoic for audio signals.

I have been in the audio anechoic chamber at UCLA. It's very wierd. It's so quiet that all you hear is your own heartbeat. The prof for my class set up a stereo with two speakers, and as you walked around the room (which I would have a tough time doing again because you're on a "chicken wire" floor hoisted about 8 feet off the ground), you could hear the constructive and destructive interference. They're very cool! (And the foam is gray, so it's not as dark as our chamber.)

[pammalamma]

Ohhh. Man. Science is so cool! :oD