Exploring the past with virtual acoustics and virtual reality

Recent novel work integrating virtual acoustic auralization with architectural models implemented in virtual reality (VR) allow scholars of the humanities and sciences to reimagine and reconstruct sites and to reanimate and contextualize situations that are no longer in extant. By introducing the audio domain, researchers are creating new hypotheses regarding everyday life and ritual practices in ancient societies. These methods are proving to be vital in advancing research as well as making the past more accessible. Here we outline methods and emerging practices. We demonstrate the potential of auralization and VR with two case studies: Chauvet-Pont-D’Arc, a cave sanctuary for paleolithic art in the Ardèche valley in France, and a funerary tomb from the third dynasty in Saqqara, Egypt. We demonstrate how spatial audio in immersive simulations offers researchers the ability to create and test novel hypotheses about the sites and structures they study. We further describe the creation of an auralization and immersive model of a church in Venice, Italy and a soundscape in Isfahan, Iran. We propose that these examples demonstrate the enormous potential in incorporating immersive simulations and describe methods that offer new perspectives and critical anthropological knowledge to humanities research.