Japanese lab recreates Mona Lisa's voice

var gotMilk · 05-19-2006, 01:44 PM

Japanese lab recreates Mona Lisa's voice
'Leo, how long do I have to sit here?'
By Lester Haines
Published Friday 19th May 2006 13:03 GMT
Security White Papers - Download them free from Reg Research

A Japanese laboratory claims to have recreated the voices of the Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci using "methods employed in criminal investigations", Physorg.com reports.

It's all pretty simple: the Japan Acoustic Lab "analyzed the skeletal structures of the historical figures' faces" and extrapolated the dulcite tones from there. Lab supremo Matsumi Suzuki explains on the MS Japan website (in Japanese, natch): "We believe we were able to create the voices that are very close to the real voices. Perhaps it was really how they really sounded."

Hmmm. Here's how former police engineer Suzuki created the audio Mona Lisa. First up, he estimated her height at 168cm (5' 6"), giving her "a relatively low tone for a woman". He admits: "We cannot tell exactly how tall she was. So we analyzed the length of her right middle finger" as well as factoring in the average height of Italian women. Ms Lisa also get a nasal tone "because of her relatively large nose".

As for Leo, Suzuki reckoned he was around 60 when he painted the Mona Lisa, so he used the famous self portrait of the bearded artist as a basis for his calculations. However, Suzuki admits: "Because the beard covers his jaws in his portrait, we could not tell his exact skeletal features. We assumed that he had a heavy-jowled face, giving him a nice, bass tone."

Enough. We should note at this point that Suzuki has in the past "collaborated with Japanese toy maker Takara Co. to create the smash-hit Bowlingual, which is said to interpret dog language" which in 2002 secured him a 2002 Ig Nobel Prize for "promoting peace and harmony between the species". ®

Bootnote
Actually, this is not quite as daft as it sounds. We recall a project some time back which sought to recreate the voices of Roman plasterers by analysing the ridges caused by their banter in wet plaster as they dragged their floats across the surface. The idea caused quite a bit of excitement in the academic community, although the only full sentence ever deciphered was from a villa in East Londinium, comprising a muffled: "Lucius, bring me another bucket of muck sharpish you fu*king muppet..."

----------------------------------------------------

This is so weird.
heres the link to the voice recordings.
http://promotion.msn.co.jp/davinci/voice.htm
just press the play buttons.
you must use internet explorer 6 (not firefox etc.) and have media player 10 otherwise it wont work.

source

alty29 · 05-19-2006, 01:59 PM

why would they do that?

var gotMilk · 05-19-2006, 02:02 PM

haha i have no idea.. maybe they were very very bored

silverx2 · 05-19-2006, 02:17 PM

regardless there is no way for sure to ever know if thats how they sounded, as a result they just wasted an assload of money and time.

var gotMilk · 05-19-2006, 02:28 PM

true, but even if they do sound like they actually did back then... so what? i dont really get what it achieves. lol

Markp.com · 05-19-2006, 03:44 PM

Its rubbish... how about they recreate a voice of a living person from just a photograph and see how close it is! I bet its miles off!

lefteyewilly · 05-19-2006, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markp.com

Its rubbish... how about they recreate a voice of a living person from just a photograph and see how close it is! I bet its miles off!

I'd agree. And again...what's the friggin point!? He wasn't famous for his voice and niether was Mona...it was the painting and that should be all that matters.

If they were to recreate my voice based soley on my picture they'd be way off. Most people don't believe my voice is really what it is. I'm a skinny white blonde kid with the voice of a 50 year old sailor.

var gotMilk · 05-19-2006, 03:55 PM

Hahahahaha!!!!

**Ask The Geezer** · 05-19-2006, 05:56 PM

Really, who cares? She's a mutt and not worth the paint anyway.

***gerbick*** · 05-19-2006, 06:54 PM

I think we should send pictures of Flashkid to them and see if they're close. That'll be the way to see how close they are.

The_Xell · 05-20-2006, 04:06 AM

That's the voice of those 'Learn to speak French' tapes...

They spent all the money on booze and just copped out. So, how do I sign up?

05-19-2006, 01:44 PM	#1
var gotMilk IT'S GON' RAIN !!! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire, England, UK Posts: 372	Japanese lab recreates Mona Lisa's voice Japanese lab recreates Mona Lisa's voice 'Leo, how long do I have to sit here?' By Lester Haines Published Friday 19th May 2006 13:03 GMT Security White Papers - Download them free from Reg Research A Japanese laboratory claims to have recreated the voices of the Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci using "methods employed in criminal investigations", Physorg.com reports. It's all pretty simple: the Japan Acoustic Lab "analyzed the skeletal structures of the historical figures' faces" and extrapolated the dulcite tones from there. Lab supremo Matsumi Suzuki explains on the MS Japan website (in Japanese, natch): "We believe we were able to create the voices that are very close to the real voices. Perhaps it was really how they really sounded." Hmmm. Here's how former police engineer Suzuki created the audio Mona Lisa. First up, he estimated her height at 168cm (5' 6"), giving her "a relatively low tone for a woman". He admits: "We cannot tell exactly how tall she was. So we analyzed the length of her right middle finger" as well as factoring in the average height of Italian women. Ms Lisa also get a nasal tone "because of her relatively large nose". As for Leo, Suzuki reckoned he was around 60 when he painted the Mona Lisa, so he used the famous self portrait of the bearded artist as a basis for his calculations. However, Suzuki admits: "Because the beard covers his jaws in his portrait, we could not tell his exact skeletal features. We assumed that he had a heavy-jowled face, giving him a nice, bass tone." Enough. We should note at this point that Suzuki has in the past "collaborated with Japanese toy maker Takara Co. to create the smash-hit Bowlingual, which is said to interpret dog language" which in 2002 secured him a 2002 Ig Nobel Prize for "promoting peace and harmony between the species". ® Bootnote Actually, this is not quite as daft as it sounds. We recall a project some time back which sought to recreate the voices of Roman plasterers by analysing the ridges caused by their banter in wet plaster as they dragged their floats across the surface. The idea caused quite a bit of excitement in the academic community, although the only full sentence ever deciphered was from a villa in East Londinium, comprising a muffled: "Lucius, bring me another bucket of muck sharpish you fuking muppet..." ---------------------------------------------------- This is so weird. heres the link to the voice recordings. http://promotion.msn.co.jp/davinci/voice.htm just press the play buttons. you must use internet explorer 6 (not firefox etc.) and have media player 10 otherwise it wont work. source __________________ Professional quality freelance work done by Varstudios* Visit us here http://www.varstudios.com/services

05-19-2006, 01:59 PM	#2
alty29 Fan of Doritos Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Philly. Posts: 2,422	why would they do that? __________________

05-19-2006, 02:02 PM	#3
var gotMilk IT'S GON' RAIN !!! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire, England, UK Posts: 372	haha i have no idea.. maybe they were very very bored __________________ Professional quality freelance work done by Varstudios Visit us here http://www.varstudios.com/services

05-19-2006, 02:17 PM	#4
silverx2 Chaos Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: The hospital Posts: 1,235	regardless there is no way for sure to ever know if thats how they sounded, as a result they just wasted an assload of money and time. __________________ "I cannot stress enough how important it is for women who believe they already have large breasts to remember that they can almost always benefit from having even larger breasts," Saddler added. Please do not message me asking for flashwork to be done. i dont even know where my MX install cd is.

05-19-2006, 02:28 PM	#5
var gotMilk IT'S GON' RAIN !!! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire, England, UK Posts: 372	true, but even if they do sound like they actually did back then... so what? i dont really get what it achieves. lol __________________ Professional quality freelance work done by Varstudios Visit us here http://www.varstudios.com/services

05-19-2006, 03:44 PM	#6
Markp.com Phantom Flasher... Join Date: May 2000 Posts: 16,033	Its rubbish... how about they recreate a voice of a living person from just a photograph and see how close it is! I bet its miles off! __________________ What?

05-19-2006, 03:55 PM	#8
var gotMilk IT'S GON' RAIN !!! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire, England, UK Posts: 372	Hahahahaha!!!! __________________ Professional quality freelance work done by Varstudios Visit us here http://www.varstudios.com/services

05-19-2006, 05:56 PM	#9
Ask The Geezer FK's Geezer Mod Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Out In The Pasture Posts: 20,490	Really, who cares? She's a mutt and not worth the paint anyway. __________________ Somewhere in Texas, a village is missing its idiot. I'm Having MORE Flashbax, 3D Flash Designs, Photo Blog Hey People, Take A Flash Break And Visit The Photography Forum.

05-19-2006, 06:54 PM	#10
*gerbick* supervillain Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: undecided. Posts: 18,848	I think we should send pictures of Flashkid to them and see if they're close. That'll be the way to see how close they are. __________________ remove the labels \| EpicMob... soon [ fk ] \| What rules? \| [ Ω ]

05-20-2006, 04:06 AM	#11
The_Xell .: Weirded Out :. Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Under the table and dreaming... Posts: 801	That's the voice of those 'Learn to speak French' tapes... They spent all the money on booze and just copped out. So, how do I sign up?

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode