ORFIELD LABORATORIES in South Minneapolis is the home of a space that was once dubbed “the quietest place on earth” by Guinness World Records. (As of 2015, that title now belongs to a quiet room developed by Microsoft in Washington state). The lab is called an anechoic chamber, meaning there is no echo as the room absorbs 99.99 percent of sound. It is used by various manufacturers to test product volume and sound quality—and it can also drive a person mad.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/orfi...et-chamber
Sounds like an incredibly eerie experience, trying to process the lack of ambient noise.
Quote:"According to the lab’s website, only members of the media are permitted to stay in the chamber alone for prolonged periods of time. One reporter lasted up to 45 minutes, and most people leave after half that time, tortured by the eerie sounds of their own body. “In the anechoic chamber, you become the sound,” says Orfield.
In the absence of outside noise, it is the presence of maddening silence to which the ears adapt. As ears adapt to silence, the sounds of your heartbeat, stomach, and lungs are your only reference, and it can be a disorienting experience.
Orfield explains that the only way to stay in the room for an extended period of time is to sit down. A person’s orientation is largely secured by the sounds made when walking or standing, and as those sound cues are taken away, perception becomes skewed, and balance and movement become almost impossible feats.
That's interesting, that ambient white noise is so crucial to balance and orientation. It's so habitual to us we don't even notice it.