The UBER in sound

“No, no, it is not about taxis,” according to Rick Scholte, founder of Sorama B.V. in Eindhoven, “yet a new, revolutionary sound camera: the Sorama CAM64.” It contains 64 microphones, instead of the single-microphone of the traditional sound level meter.

What does it have to do with UBER, which turns the taxi business up-side down?
At UBER you yourself, as a private individual, can operate as a taxi driver. Without the need for an official taxi license. The customer benefits, since the taxi is readily available and often at a much lower rate than usual. The Sorama CAM64 allows the user to perform powerful noise and vibration measurements and analyses without the need for a university acoustics degree. Moreover, this sound camera is much cheaper than comparable sound meters.

Sound camera, it suggests you can film sound?
Yes, and that is exactly what the CAM64 does: it makes sound and vibrations – sound is a vibration of air – visible. You point it at the object of interest, so you can clearly see where the sound came from and how the sound spreads. Sound is quite complex, with different frequencies and levels, yet this Sorama technology makes it insightful. A picture is worth a thousand words.

And what can you do with such a movie of the sound?
By making sound visible, you see what the source or cause of the noise is. With many products that produce sound (motor, compressor, coffee maker, boiler, etc.) that knowledge is essential in order to adapt the design of the device with the objective to make the product quieter. Ultimately, this leads to less noise, which is not only more pleasant, but also healthier for humans. Another important application is the detection of the cause of noise in people’s homes. It often happens that people at home suffer from squeaks, humming or buzzing tones, but cannot find the cause. With the CAM64 you can trace the source and make it visible.

Has the Sorama technology already proven itself somewhere?
“Yes,” says Rick Scholte, who himself obtained his PhD at the Technical University of Eindhoven (The Netherlands) on noise measurements, “Sorama exists for several years now and has many large industrial companies as clients, including DAF, ASML, NXP and Bosch.” The introduction of the Sorama CAM64 brings this technology within reach of small and medium-sized businesses. And that’s again another parallel with UBER: because of the ease of use and pricing, the technology is now available to the masses. It promises to turn the noise measurements market upside-down. 

That sounds pretty ambitious. Where can one order the Sorama CAM64?
“Well, the first series is set to be shipped on January the 15th and was sold out within a few weeks, so we have a luxury problem. We expect the second series to be available in March 2016,” according to a proud Rick Scholte. Anyone interested can contact us and find more information via the contact page.