Fingal's Cave

Abstract

Fingal’s Cave: an Audiovisual Experience is an immersive virtual reality application that combines 3D models, a narrative soundscape and interactive auralisation in a recreation of a visit to Fingal’s Cave. This research explores the importance of audio in heritage visualisations and its practical implementation. Fingal’s Cave is a sea cave on the Isle of Staffa off the west coast of Scotland revered for its extraordinary acoustics. Audio is extremely important in the history and culture of Fingal’s Cave and it has long been romanticised, inspiring countless folklore, art, poetry and music. The visualisation is designed to encourage viewers to become a part of the cultural narrative and explore the cave for themselves, move around and speak to hear their voice auralised as it would be inside the cave. This is the first time the acoustic characteristics of a heritage site have been included in a visualisation in this interactive manner. This paper reviews whether auralisation is effective and meaningful and supports a creative response to heritage sites. The impact of the visualisation in terms of engaging with communities of interest and in the field of audio in heritage visualisation is discussed. The research suggests it is necessary that audio be included in heritage visualisations to give a full and complete understanding of how people experience it.