An isolation booth is a cabinet used to prevent a person or people from seeing or hearing certain events, usually for television programs or for blind testing of products.
Further measures may be taken to prevent the occupant from seeing/hearing anything that occurs outside the booth, such as a blindfold or sleep mask, or headphones that play music or are equipped with noise-cancelling technology.
The isolation booth concept has been used for comic effect at times. One example is the "Cone of Silence" used as a running gag on the comedy series Get Smart. This was a clear plastic device that fitted over the heads of Maxwell Smart and the Chief, intended to let them discuss sensitive issues without being overheard. However, it invariably malfunctioned to the point that the two could not hear each other at all without shouting. Another variation appeared on the game show Idiot Savants, as the "Cylinder of Shush," a plastic tube lowered over the contestant's head that muffled the host's questions somewhat.
Isolation booths are also frequently used in audio recordings, with non-reflective walls, lined with acoustic foam that eliminate potential reverberations.
Use as punishment
Some schools in the United Kingdom use "isolation booths" as a place of detention, being a small room in which a disruptive child is forced to sit alone and in silence,[1] as part of a policy known as "occupy and ignore".[2] In some cases, children have been punished in this manner for 22 hours in one week. In 2019, a child attempted suicide through overdosing, while confined to such a booth.[3]
