Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is home to an unlikely tourist attraction.
At the laboratory, there is an anechoic chamber. An anechoic chamber is a place where you won’t hear the sounds of traffic, chatter, or even the hum of appliances. The soundproof room is one of the quietest places on Earth, and you can take a virtual tour of the space in the video below.
According to UPROXX, Orfield Laboratories is primarily used for research. The background noise inside the chamber clocks in at -9.4 dBA. For comparison, the quietest place the average person has access to has sound levels closer to 30 dBA. Without any outside noises to interfere, products tested for noise levels inside the space produce extremely accurate results. The room has other purposes as well, such as preparing astronauts for space missions and freaking out tourists willing to pay for a visit.
Experiences sounds that are lower than what is found in nature, can have an extremely strange affect on the human body and mind. With nothing else to fill the space, the sounds of your heart, stomach, and even lungs can become deafening. Dizziness, anxiety, and out-of-body-sensations are a few of the reported responses to spending time in the eerily silent chamber.
You may not be able to get the full affect from the video below, but wearing headphones will get you as close to being there as possible.
The lab is closed to visitors right now, but when they reopen, they offer tours for $125 per person.