- Location
- Notre-Dame de Paris - Paris, France
- Year
- 2023 - 2024
- Device
- Geolocated autonomous immersive visit experience
- Status
- Available on app stores
The venue
Notre-Dame de Paris is one of the most famous monuments in the world. Its silhouette, its towers and its rose windows belong to our collective imagination. Yet one essential dimension of its history remains largely unknown: its sonic identity.
For over eight centuries, the old lady was built and transformed. Changes to its architecture, furnishings and decoration altered its acoustics. At the same time, liturgies, chants, bells and daily activities set the rhythm of life within its walls, weaving a sonic history that was itself constantly evolving.
It is this invisible memory that the research project The Past Has Ears at Notre-Dame, funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), explored and documented, going as far as reconstructing acoustics and soundscapes now lost to time.
The mediation challenge lies in translating complex, multidisciplinary scientific research into a sensitive and immersive experience, accessible to the general public.
Our mission
How do we bring eight centuries of sonic history around Notre-Dame back to life?
The challenges
Bringing together several disciplines and years of research to create an experience accessible to the general public, without losing the scientific richness that underpins the reconstructions.
Reconstructing lost sounds and soundscapes, then placing them within the historical acoustics corresponding to the different states of Notre-Dame.
Creating a sonic immersion that transports visitors into the past while keeping their gaze on the monument and on the elements visible from each station.
Designing a tour around Notre-Dame — still closed to the public following the 2019 fire — capable of offering a renewed discovery of the cathedral from its surroundings.
Making the visitor an active participant in the discovery, by inviting them to explore the different facets of Notre-Dame's sonic identity and to continue their visit through the collection of memories.
Methodology
Co-creation & VX Design
Working with research teams to translate scientific findings into a visit experience, then designing the six stations and twelve memories around Notre-Dame.
Content production
Writing the narratives, directing the voice of Notre-Dame and creating the sonic scenes from the acoustic reconstructions and soundscapes produced by the research.
App development & systems
Designing and developing the Ekko application, including station geolocation, content triggering and the memory-collection mechanic, followed by on-site testing.
Implementation & impact measurement
Deploying the tour around Notre-Dame, making the application available on app stores, conducting a reception study and providing technical maintenance.
The creative vision
Notre-Dame is not merely the subject of the tour: she becomes its narrator. Embodied as a grandmother who is at once noble, warm and playful, she speaks directly to the visitor and shares her memories with them. Two decisions shape this encounter.
Trail
Six stations to travel through time
The trail unfolds across six stations around Notre-Dame. As visitors enter a geolocated zone, they discover and collect a memory tied to where they stand: the medieval construction site from the banks of the Seine, the first polyphonic chants of the late 12th century near the choir, or the era of Viollet-le-Duc facing the traces of his intervention.
From one point to the next, wandering around the monument becomes a journey through eight centuries of history.
Memory #6
Monument of stone, monument of paper
Anatomy of a memory
Two men at Notre-Dame's bedside
In this memory, Notre-Dame takes us back to the 19th century, when the cathedral was deteriorating and under threat. Victor Hugo and Viollet-le-Duc meet in an unexpected dialogue. Their own words, drawn from their writings, respond to one another and tell how, from literature to architecture, their works helped transform the ancient edifice into a historic monument.
A recovered memory
The Rose of Memories adorns itself with colour
Each memory takes the form of a medallion. As the visitor listens, the medallion fills with colour, then takes its place in the Rose of Memories. Gradually, the twelve medallions restore its polychromy, in the manner of the coloured stained glass of the Middle Ages.
The Rose becomes the metaphor for a sonic memory that, memory by memory, comes back to life.
In pictures
The place, as seen by visitors
A few images of the trail, its installation, and its first visitors.
01 / 09
More than a historical, scientific and archaeological experience, this immersive sound walk is a singular and poetic encounter. It is a living experience that awakens the imagination
They lived it
What visitors have to say.
Very detailed and vivid descriptions, an engaging guided tour, interesting historical facts — speaking in the first person brings the narrative to life. Keep up the "wonderful" work.
Our sport-loving teenage children also came to appreciate the beauty of Notre-Dame thanks to you.
A child with ADHD, captivated from start to finish.
Superb, very realistic — as a stained-glass artist with 48 years of experience restoring countless public and private buildings, many of them listed historic monuments, I am in awe of this visit.
Congratulations — an incredible experience. You truly feel as though Notre-Dame is speaking to you.
I appreciate the tremendous effort it takes to create an experience like this — hats off!
I felt privileged to take part in this experience — thank you.
Thank you so much, and congratulations on this creation — keep going, for the joy of all those who listen.
The musical segments were incredible.
Press coverage
What they said about it
Across six geolocated stations around the monument, visitors enjoy this trail that blends looking and listening.
Beaux Arts Magazine2024This experience also promotes interdisciplinary academic research and offers visitors an entirely new kind of emotion.
La Semaine du Son2024This immersive audio application will plunge you into the secrets of Notre-Dame de Paris
Marie Claire2024The cathedral itself will not reopen until the end of 2024. But you can already immerse yourself in its history and restoration.
NPR2023The scientific team specializing in acoustics involved in the reconstruction of Notre-Dame, and soon, we were on our way to Paris to hear their stories.
Materially Speaking2024Scientific publications
The project in research
- 2026
Public Evaluation of Notre-Dame Whispers, a Geolocated Outdoor Audio-Guided Tour of Notre-Dame's Sonic History.
De Muynke, J., Peichert, S., & Katz, B. F. G.
Heritage, 9(1), 19.
- 2024
The Past Has Ears at Notre-Dame: Acoustic digital twins for research and narration.
Katz, B. F. G., Cros, C., Peichert, S., & De Muynke, J.
Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, 34, e00369.
- 2024
The Past Has Ears at Notre-Dame: Immersive Audio Experiences for Public Engagement.
Katz, B. F. G., Pardoen, M., Lyzwa, J.-M., Peichert, S., Cros, C., Poirier-Quinot, D., De Muynke, J., Ling, A., Cacheux, S., Griner, J., Mouscadet, J., & Mullins, S. S.
Presented at the AES 156th Convention 2024 June 15–17, Madrid, Spain.
- 2024
Notre-Dame Whispers: A geolocated immersive walk through the sonic memory of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral.
Peichert, S., De Muynke, J., & Katz, B. F. G.
Résonances Gothiques, Sep 2023, Avignon, France. pp.105-128.
Project partners/collaborators
