Elizabeth Robertson

I am interested in the role of sound in creating engaging interactive experiences for heritage and archaeology.

In my thesis, I explored the role and experience of aura and authenticity in digital replicas of cultural heritage sites, and developed the idea of creating Audio and Visual patination in the digital. Authenticity is typically a term associated with “real” and “original” and can be established through both material and social means. Material qualities such as patina, wear and decay can give the impression of how old something is – for example a crumbling ruin or layers of green patina on a bronze statue. Networks of social interaction become embedded in these places, which in combination with these material qualities, can define something as “authentic”. Digital representations of heritage have traditionally been seen as devoid of such qualities, however in my project I sought to investigate ways of mitigating this through the creation of audio and visual patination.

Using models of Staffa and Fingal’s cave captured as part of the HARPS project, I created a prototype interactive experience for users to explore the interior of the cave. These interactions included writing “graffiti” on the digital cave wall and leaving recorded audio clips. Each of these clips was auralised using data captured at Fingal’s cave to sound as though they were echoing in the cave itself. As more users visit the cave and upload their graffiti and audio, layers of audio and visual interaction build up, creating a “Patina”. Users also had the ability to change weather conditions and time of day, thereby altering the mood and atmosphere of the experience, and re-contextualising user-input.

Although the term patina derives from the green layers of oxidation that build up on copper or bronze, it can be more widely applied to objects that have grown more beautiful with age. Audio and visual patination facilitates material qualities in the digital and represents the networks embedded within the digital replica.