Abstract
Applying new information technologies to Cultural Heritage enables us to discover the unexplored characteristics of visual and aural attributes of historic buildings. In this article a new technology to measure acoustic 3D Impulse Responses in historic interiors is described and applied to the sixth-century church of San Vitale at Ravenna, Italy. The virtual reconstruction of this important UNESCO World Heritage Site revealed otherwise obscured yet intentional details of its architectural design. The results of measuring the internal spatial parameters are used to recreate San Vitale’s historical components and to re-sound original music of the little known Ravennate rite.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Prof. Simon Keay (Archaeology, University of Southampton), Dr Matthew Wright (Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton) for their support and interest. We are indebted to Monsignor Guido Marchetti (Opera di Religione of the Diocese of Ravenna), Dr. Maria Grazia Maioli (Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell’Emilia-Romagna), Dr. Anna Maria Iannucci (Soprintendenza per i Beni Ambientali e Architettonici di Ravenna). We would also like to thank Dr. Matthew Johnson, Dr. David Wheatley, Dr. Donatella Restani, Dr. Ilaria Durvilli, Dr. Maddalena Roversi, Dr. Eleftheria Paliou, Ioanna Giannakopoulou, Dominic Barker and Daniel J. Knight.
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Tronchin, L., Knight, D.J. Revisiting Historic Buildings through the Senses Visualising Aural and Obscured Aspects of San Vitale, Ravenna. Int J Histor Archaeol 20, 127–145 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-015-0325-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-015-0325-2