The World’s Quietest Room is located at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and is officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the quietest place on Earth. This extraordinary space is an anechoic chamber designed to absorb nearly all sound, creating an environment of extreme silence.
The room measures sound at –20.3 decibels, a level far below what humans normally experience. For comparison, a quiet bedroom measures around 30 decibels, while normal human hearing begins at 0 decibels. In this chamber, silence is so intense that people can hear their own heartbeat, breathing, and even the movement of joints.
The walls, ceiling, and floor are lined with hundreds of sound-absorbing wedges made from fiberglass and foam, preventing sound waves from reflecting. The room is also built on vibration-isolating foundations to block external noise from the surrounding environment.
Microsoft uses the chamber to test hardware such as speakers, microphones, and electronic devices, ensuring the highest standards of acoustic performance. Scientists and engineers also study how humans perceive sound and silence under extreme conditions.
Interestingly, very few people can remain inside the room for more than 45 minutes, as the lack of sound and spatial cues can cause disorientation and discomfort.
