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Famed Leonardo Da Vinci portrait The Mona Lisa has been given a voice thanks to a pioneering acoustics expert. Top Tokyo scientist Dr Matsumi Suzuki came up with the sound after measuring the painted woman's face and hands to predict her voice 'print'. He says, "In Mona Lisa's case, the lower part of her face is quite wide and her chin is pointed. The extra volume means a relatively low voice, while the pointed chin adds mid-pitch tones. We then had to think about what to have her say. We tried having her speak Japanese, but it didn't suit her image." In the end Suzuki brought in an Italian woman and copied her intonation. He claims the manufactured speech is 90 per cent accurate. (SH/WNWR/SC)
(c) 2004 World Entertainment News Network
