Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Mona Lisa speaks...

A Japanese scientist, Dr. Matsumi Suzuki, has recreated the voice of Mona Lisa ! He measured the face and the hands of the famous portrait to estimate her height and ultimately her voice...

Excerpts...
The chart of any individual's voice, known as a voice print, is unique to that person and Suzuki says he believes he has achieved 90 percent accuracy in recreating the quality of the enigmatic woman's speaking tone.
...
"In Mona Lisa's case, the lower part of her face is quite wide and her chin is pointed," Suzuki explained. "The extra volume means a relatively low voice, while the pointed chin adds mid-pitch tones"
A promotional video/audio has been released (note though that the site is in Japanese and the audio is Italian..click on the play button below the Mona Lisa portrait and wait for the advert to get over). In the above clip, she says, among other things...
"I am the Mona Lisa. My true identity is shrouded in mystery..."
He has also recreated Leonardo DaVinci's voice, but believes that it might be inaccurate as he had to work from a portrait that had the master's beard on his face.

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