At the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) trade fair being held this week in Barcelona, the Eurecat technology centre is showcasing new tools for digitalising and recording the sound identity of iconic historical and cultural buildings to generate immersive experiences which enhance the understanding of heritage.
Specifically, visitors to Eurecat’s booth at ISE can experience the use of these audio technologies in the soundscapes of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, available in an audio guide developed by Talkartive and Sorbonne University.
Researchers from the PHEND (The Past Has Ears at Notre-Dame) project led by Sorbonne University, where Eurecat senior researcher specialising in audio Julien De Muynke did his doctorate, studied the historical acoustics of Notre-Dame in Paris over the centuries. In addition to documenting and archiving it for posterity, the sound reconstructions were used in Ekko of Notre-Dame de Paris, a geolocated audio guide featuring immersive narrative and historical soundscapes mixed in binaural developed by cultural mediation agency Talkartive.
This audio guide, part of which was recorded at Eurecat’s 3D Audio Laboratory, “is accessible through a free mobile app available in French, English and Spanish and takes you on a journey through the historical sound identity of this iconic cultural heritage building whether in the surroundings of the cathedral or from your own home,” notes Julien De Muynke.
Automatic generation of audiovisual summaries and optimisation of acoustics in virtual reality environments
Eurecat is also showing at ISE new tools harnessing free generative artificial intelligence software to automatically create summaries of audiovisual information sources. These developments have been tested with editorial teams from the Catalan Broadcasting Corporation-3Cat to make automatic summaries of news videos.
Eurecat is additionally bringing to the fair “a solution that significantly reduces reverberation, background noise and other disturbances captured by the microphones built into virtual reality goggles using audio enhancement techniques powered by deep learning,” explains Mònica Andreu, head of the Creative and Cultural Industries Market at Eurecat.
“The models developed by the technology centre enhance acoustic consistency in virtual reality and unlock the social inclusion of people with hearing disabilities in virtual reality and augmented reality environments.”
Audiovisual and cultural and creative industry trends
In audiovisual technologies and integrated systems, Eurecat runs projects “addressing trends in the audiovisual sector and the cultural and creative industries and opportunities for innovation in digital technologies,” points out Joan Mas, scientific director of Eurecat’s Digital Area. This is coupled with “AI and data technology solutions in the audiovisual creation process and the cultural and creative industries’ value chain plus use cases of generative artificial intelligence for multimodal applications with a range of formats.”
Other innovations which Eurecat brings to audiovisual technologies and integrated systems include virtual reality, augmented and mixed reality, immersive experiences, robotics for the audiovisual sector, technologies for producing 3D music in new immersive content and strategies and tools to enhance the sector’s sustainability and energy efficiency in its activities.
The technology centre also has success stories in implementing technological solutions in the Catalan audiovisual, cultural and creative industries and additionally develops solutions tapping neuroscience and artificial intelligence technologies to analyse interaction with people and the new business models generated by audiovisual industry digitalisation together with new opportunities for applications in cultural heritage and tourism.
