Where can I spend time in an anechoic chamber?

Question

Acoustic anechoic chambers are enclosed spaces which are highly isolated from outside noise sources and also highly absorbent to any noise produced inside. The one at Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the quietest place on Earth. There is an urban legend that spending more than 30 minutes in one will drive you crazy.

I realize that I can probably peek into some of the research facilities, but I would like to test my sanity against one. By this I mean that I would like to spend up to 1 hour alone inside of a reasonably well constructed chamber, but is doesn't have to be at the level of quality of 'the quietest place on Earth'.

Is it possible, as a tourist, to visit an anechoic chamber where one can experience acoustic deprivation for up to an hour? I am interested in locations anywhere in the world.

Related question: Where is the quietest place on Earth?

Answer 1

Anechoic Chambers Around the World

Since most anechoic chambers are part of company/university laboratories, it is safe to assume that they are generally not open to the public on a regular basis. Nevertheless it is also safe to assume that these facilities might be available for rent to other companies/enterprises/institutions.

Below is an incomplete list of rentable anechoic chambers around the world:

• The Faculty of Brain Science at UCL in London, UK has an anechoic chamber, and its website mentions that the room is available for rent for companies and academic institutions. The website also says that you can try to contact Andrew Clark at a.a.clark@ucl.ac.uk and ask for more information.

• The Faculty of Humanity and Theology at Lund University in Lund, Sweden has an anechoic chamber which can be booked. Whether it can be used by non-members of Lund University is somewhat unclear from the website. Nevertheless you can contact their Content manager: Maja.Petersson@humlab.lu.se.

• The Acoustics Lab at the University of Salford, Manchester, UK has an anechoic chamber. Whether the chamber is available for rent is unclear, but here is a list of contact people you can get in touch with to ask.

• The anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA organises a few group tours per year, according to a BBC article dating 2012, and MarkMayo's answer on a related question on TSE. The BBC quotes a price range of 300-400USD for those companies renting the anechoic chamber for product testing. The Orfield Lab website mentions tours and prices (from $200-$400). Any booking needs to made and paid for 2 weeks in advance. Also, the Orfield website states:

  If your interest is in challenging the "45 minute record", there is NO Guinness World Record for time spent in the chamber, this has been incorrectly reported in many press stories around the world.

• The NTT InterCommunication Centre (ICC) in Tokyo, Japan hosted several expositions in 2007, 2005 and 2002 in which the installation of an anechoic chamber was made available to visitors. Whether the anechoic chamber is exposed and visitable to date is unclear. You can try emailing the ICC at query@ntticc.or.jp and ask.

If all else fails you can always take a virtual tour of the EMC RF Anechoic Test Facility in Sydney, Australia.