Kyle-Ramsey

WhitehillProject-MSc

The Whitehill Project is an investigation into an acoustic reconstruction of the Whitehill Neolithic rock art sites. Using LiDAR scan data, photogrammetric 3D models, the geometry has been mapped into a real-time game engine, where we calculate the acoustic qualities of the site using wave acoustic simulation to determine effects such as occlusion, obstruction, portaling, reverberation and reflection. The virtual interaction is the result of research that explores a possible framework in which a dynamic virtual environment could accurately capture these acoustic qualities of a cultural heritage site from three-dimensional data previously acquired by Scottish Rock Art Project, and Edina Digimap, to convey intangible heritage of the Whitehill rock art sites in an interactive application that alters the different environmental and perceptual factors that could affect the sites soundscape, with a phenomenological approach. Within this framework, the paper attempts to contribute towards the discussion of site selection criteria and reasoning for rock art production, through comparing previous investigations that deploy similar technologies. We also explore the application as a potential acoustic pipeline in which other 3D data sets can be passed through and explored in a similar manner and capture data as an accessible alternative to real-world impulse response capture.