ERATO – “Identification, Evaluation and Revival of the Acoustical heritage of ancient Theatres and Odea”

ERATO – “Identification, Evaluation and Revival of the Acoustical heritage of ancient Theatres and Odea”

Period: February 2003 - January 2006 Type: European Research Status: Completed

Overview

By this project the concept of architectural heritage will be broadened to cover both acoustical and visual components. Moreover the real-time 3D audio-visual integration in virtual environments with virtual interactive humans will create a specific and interesting product. This product could be used both in the scientific research and in the media.

To reach the goals of this project some of the architectural monuments of Jordan and Turkey will be utilised for identification and conservation purpose. Similar monuments of cultural heritage are found in most of the Mediterranean countries, following the extension of the Roman Empire. So, some monuments in France and Italy may also be utilised in the project.

The project will particularly enlighten the rich acoustical heritage in the Hellenistic and Roman theatres, and the fact that there were actually two very different kinds of theatres: the open-air theatres and the odea, which were roofed buildings. The acoustics were very different in the two kinds of performance venues, reflecting two different uses, the first one with emphasis on the spoken word and the other one with emphasis on music and singing.

MIRALab’s contribution

Mainly, MIRALab’s part on this project is related to 3D Visualizations and recreations of selected archaeological open-air and roofed theatres of the Hellenistic and Roman period of architecture. Also, MIRALab works in the integration of the acoustic and visual model in an architectural framework and component based middleware.

Partners

Association Etudes Cadre de vie Environnement
France

Ecole Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne, Virtual Reality Laboratory (VRLab)
Switzerland
vrlab.epfl.ch

Hashemite University
Jordan
www.hu.edu.jo

Technical University of Denmark
Denmark
www.dtu.dk/index_e.htm

Universita degli Studi de Ferrara
Italy
www.unife.it

Yildiz Teknik Üniversitesi
Turkey
www.iib.yildiz.edu.tr

MIRALab, University of Geneva
Switzerland
www.miralab.ch