The Mona Lisa's smile may always remain a mystery, but it is now possible to hear what her voice would have sounded like, thanks to a Japanese acoustics expert.Link (Reuters)
Dr Matsumi Suzuki, who generally uses his skills to help with criminal investigations, measured the face and hands of Leonardo da Vinci's famous 16th century portrait to estimate her height and create a model of her skull.
"Once we have that, we can create a voice very similar to that of the person concerned," Suzuki told Reuters in an interview at his Tokyo office last week. "We have recreated the voices of a lot of famous people that were very close to the real thing and have been used in film dubbing."
I'll admit to being a bit skeptical about how well this actually works, but it appeals to the same part of me that is alternately skeptical toward and fascinated by the various technologies depicted on TV shows like Bones and the 31 flavors of CSI.
It appeals to the part of me that wonders, while reading Mark Twain, what extra dimension his true voice might have added to his wit. When I read the Lincoln's Gettysburg address, I wonder... did he have a deep, authoritative voice like I always imagine? Or did he sound like Wally Cox?
Obviously, Suzuki would be unable to ascertain from bone structure such things the subject's regional accent, whether he whistled through his teeth when he pronounced the letter 's', and if she had an annoying nervous giggle; but it sure would be interesting to see if analysis of the cartoon version of The Tick pointed to Patrick Warburton.
11 comments:
Kind of an interesting concept. Makes CSI, Bones and those goofy books I read even MORE interesting! Maybe I should go into one of those fields. Ooops...I remember why I can't do that. MATH! I guess I'll have to stick to reading about it and watching it on TV.
Susie: Hard to believe YOU'RE speechless! Now I'm dumbfounded. You? Speechless? No way!
Foo: Looks like you've left your "following" stumped on this one. Maybe they're mentally or literally on vacation? Dunno. Something else to ponder, eh?
Um, how come there's that picture of a bean/bell pepper/escargot looking thing in place of your picture nowadays?
What IS that?!
Oh, and where's your flip-flop picture? C'mon, it's a meme, cooperate, will ya?
Gwynne: Oh come on. It was never a meme.
And if it was a meme, why would I want all those foot fetishists out there doing... impure things to pictures of my feet?
Now, Susie... she's someone you could get to join in on a tootsie meme. She's always showing off her feet.
And the nut/fruit thing is a cashew. Or so we were told. Personally, I think it is more attractive than its predecessor, while at the same time preserving the color scheme.
Who cares what her voice sounded like?? I want to know why the heck she was smiling! :) Someday Foo, I'm going to build a time machine. You and Turtle have VIP seats of course.
Oh, a cashew nut, I get it. And yes, the color scheme has been preserved, which is an important consideration in my book also. I've left up my profile pic far too long, only because it "matches."
And Susie actually started the tootsie meme (and yes, it's a meme). At least, that's where I got my idea. Susie's full of bright ideas, isn't she? ;-)
I can vouch for Susie. She's not a stalker. (Or, so I hear...)
I warned you I'm only Emma Sometimes.
You know of The Tick? Well, I am speechless, too! Patrick W. has the best voice. I LOVE The Tick. The series was side-splitting funny.
Favorite lines:
After chewing and immediately spitting out an entire mouthful of asprin, "This is the worst candy EVER!"
and the opening coffee machine scene:
"Empty your bladder that bitter black urine men call coffee!"
ps. So, you traded one nut picture for another nut picture? I don't get it. ;o)
Fred: That's what all the stalkers say.
Capt. Sometimes Emmma Liberty: The Tick rocks.
So, you traded one nut picture for another nut picture? I don't get it.
You do, apparently.
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