Kerala techies plan tech to cut sound pollution

Our Correspondent

There is good news for those who have lost their peace of mind due to noise pollution from outside the office and at home. Riju and Saju, Malayalee techies, are in the final stages bringing a technology to the people to get rid of noise pollution. The technology, which eliminates all noise from outside the room, is a sound reduction system, and research is underway at Virtual Medias in Chennai to launch it later this year. Despite stepping into a new arena, this tech company is also the number one in South India in terms of sound production in film and television. Out of 100 movies released in South India, 90 are directed by Virtual Media.

Virtual Media provides voices for different media from natural and real-life events. Virtual Media is also the technical supporter of renowned musician A.R. Rahman, Fourframes Sound Company, owned by director Priyadarshan, and the Poona Film Institute. Virtual Media functions under Thiruvananthapuram-based Life Art. After graduating with a degree in computer science and engineering seven years ago, Riju had started a television channel, but his career took a turn for the best when he realised his own passion and blended it with technology.

The goal was to combine keyboard skills with a computer. He realised that music was his platform. Instead of confining themselves to jobs in big companies like all techies, Riju and Saju started their own venture, Virtual Media. Although it was a bit difficult in the first phase, the hard work and not getting too close to the white colour job helped these techies. Riju and his team brought the same changes in sound designing that Hollywood made four years ago to Malayalam movies.

The use of technology was less in the old movies. But that is not the case today. The film world today is fascinated by new technologies. Background sounds and fine-tuning of various sounds are now done with the help of a computer. They say that the quality of the film itself has changed a lot in recent times. Sound designing is more likely when theaters today emit 64 channel sounds from the old 6 channel sound. Virtual media is also at the forefront of live sound effects.

Although it is more risky to prepare real sounds for use in film, professionalism is the salvation for both here as well. They say success in this field is guaranteed if one is willing to work hard. In the field of sound design, background music once used cannot be used elsewhere you have to keep designing anew. There is a saying that all techies keep repeating themselves as a sort of hymn, ‘Stay up to date and do not rely solely on white collar jobs’. Then your career will skyrocket, these techies vouch.