"My name is Mona Lisa"

June 3, 2006 9:00 PM

Mona Lisa's voice finally heard. Even if you can't read Japanese, you can still click the buttons underneath each portrait to get playback. Works with Internet Explorer. Suzuki — a co-winner of the Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for promoting harmony between species by inventing the Bow-Lingual, a dog-to-human interpretation device — undertook the project as part of activities promoting the Japan release of the movie "The Da Vinci Code."
posted by nickyskye (16 comments total)

Why isn't "bullshit" listed in the tags box?
posted by Mikey-San at 9:14 PM on June 3, 2006

"Does this painting make my ass look fat?"
posted by HTuttle at 9:15 PM on June 3, 2006

"No, I made your ass look fat. Because you have a fat ass." — Leo DaVinci
posted by Mikey-San at 9:21 PM on June 3, 2006

As if.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 9:24 PM on June 3, 2006

"well, leo, my ass is only fat because i'm having nat king cole's baby"
posted by pyramid termite at 9:30 PM on June 3, 2006 [2 favorites]

Bravo, p t, on the well-timed Nat King Cole reference.
marked as favorite
posted by wendell at 9:34 PM on June 3, 2006

"yes. yes i smile to tempt a lover."
posted by shmegegge at 10:13 PM on June 3, 2006

What if she had a gravelly smoking voice? Bear in mind, I haven't read the article.
posted by parki at 4:56 AM on June 4, 2006

Actually it's quite cool how the Japanese scientist created her voice. The video, which goes on for about 15 minutes after the voices are heard details -in Japanese- how he approximated them. Mona Lisa's is warmly womanly and Leonardo's has a kind of sage resonance.
posted by nickyskye at 7:27 AM on June 4, 2006

Mona Lisa's is warmly womanly and Leonardo's has a kind of sage resonance.

What ever would we do without computers?
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:05 AM on June 4, 2006

pull my finger.
posted by quonsar at 8:14 AM on June 4, 2006

Oh quonsar, you naughty taughty.

StickyCarpet, Before that article and video I'd never heard of forensic accoustics. It seemed an interesting field and I liked that the scientist made this inter-species communication device, the Bow-Lingual. (Don't go there quonsar, just don't).
posted by nickyskye at 9:52 AM on June 4, 2006

nickyskye: Just wondering what measurable physical dimensions in the paintings correspond to sagacity and warmth.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:24 AM on June 4, 2006

StickyCarpet, The sounds of their voices conveyed warmth and sagacity to me. The forensic scientist based his approximations of Mona Lisa's voice by "measuring her face and hands and modeling her skull".
posted by nickyskye at 11:22 AM on June 4, 2006

(Don't go there quonsar, just don't).

been there, done that.
posted by quonsar at 6:47 PM on June 4, 2006

Well, this is Mona Lisa AND dog communication, lol.
posted by nickyskye at 7:47 PM on June 4, 2006