Immersive Environments for Cultural Memory, Bio-Heritage, and Hearing Research

Immersive Environments for Cultural Memory, Bio-Heritage, and Hearing Research

Sharath Chandra Ramakrishnan,

Abstract: This talk explores how immersive technologies can activate cultural and biological heritage artifacts through multisensory engagement. Drawing from projects that reconstruct 3D models of cultural and bio-heritage artifacts, ranging from architectural excavations to ecological soundscapes, the presentation examines how virtual environments can foster new modes of perception research. These immersive reconstructions not only preserve cultural and ecological knowledge, but also serve as experimental spaces to examine various facets of auditory imagery and memory. Merging cognitive science, digital heritage, and emerging media practices, his work proposes virtual space as both an archive and a community based perceptual laboratory.  

Bio: Assistant Professor Sharath Chandra Ramakrishnan (scram@illinois.edu), is a researcher, computational media artist and interface designer working at the intersection of immersive media art and design, cognitive science, and sound studies at the Perceptual Futures Laboratory. An aspect of his work explores the history and politics of augmented listening technologies, as he explores how auditory interfaces in virtual environments can augment sensory perception especially using auditory displays.