Virtual reconstruction of an ancient Greek pan flute

This paper presents ongoing work aimed at realizing an interactive museum installation that aids museum visitors learn about a musical instrument that is part of the exhibit: an exceptionally well preserved ancient pan flute, most probably of greek origins. The paper first discusses the approach to non-invasive analysis on the instrument, which was based on 3D scanning using computerized tomography (CT scan), and provided the starting point to inspect the geometry and some aspects of the construction of the instrument. A tentative reconstruction of the instrument tuning is then presented, which is based on the previous analysis and on elements of theory of ancient Greek music. Finally, the paper presents the design approach and the first results regarding the interactive museum installation that recreates the virtual flute and allows intuitive access to several related research facets.