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In the first week users of 50 countries have downloaded the free version of the Shroud 2.0 application
During the first week after its launch a good 75 thousand users downloaded the Shroud 2.0 App on their iPad and iPhone devices. It's the first official application dedicated to the Holy Linen. The downloads were made from 50 countries around the world, among which the United States with 30 thousand requests, followed by Italy with 20 thousand, stand out. However, also the figures reported by Spanish speaking countries, United Kingdom and even a non Christian country such as Japan, are significant. During several days the application has been at the top of the world ranking for the Education category for number of downloads.
An achievement which allows to explore the Sheet in detail, through the access to an excellent high definition photographic document that offers features that are almost invisible to the naked eye, elements that not even the traditional Expositions have ever allowed to observe. This opportunity is made possible by the very high-definition image of the cloth achieved by Haltadefinizione® in 2008. This technology is also used in art field on works such as, among others, the Last Supper by Leonardo, and the most famous paintings by Botticelli. A digitalization process that recomposed 1649 snapshots into one single 12 billion pixels image, held in a 72 Gigabytes file, corresponding to the content of 16 DVDs.
Until today the dedicated Museum was the place which mostly offered the chance to approach the Shroud, excluding the Expositions, and the Turin Cathedral of Saint John where it is kept but not visible. But now, a kind of “Digital Exposition” shall be constantly available on the displays of anyone having an iPad or iPhone -probably in the future also for those using Android. Besides exploring the Shroud in every single spot with the touch screen picture, users will also be conducted along a knowledge and meditation journey by the technological device.
In fact, this application allows to enhance the understanding of the cloth in an interactive and dynamic way through a real virtual tour along four theme routes, currently available in Italian, Spanish, English and Portuguese, corresponding to four “navigation” options of the Sheet: story from the Gospels, elements of the cloth, elements of the figure, and scientific aspects.
For the first time in history the most detailed image of the Shroud ever achieved is available to the whole world, thanks to a streaming system, which allows a precise exploration also in the “negative” version wherever you are, without any time or distance restriction: each detail of the cloth can be magnified and visualized in a way which would otherwise not be possible. The utmost level of display of the image shall be available in the version with fee, at 3.59 euros, whereas the free version shall however offer a suggestive perspective of the Shroud accompanied by the Evangelic background it witnesses.
The application also includes several data sheets about the details of the image, the scientific investigations, and the historical events relevant to the Shroud, which can directly be accessed at any time during the theme navigation. The data sheets are enriched with precious archive and documentation images that can be magnified on the screen, and that deal with the main topics: The Holy Shroud, Time line, The cloth, Forensic analysis, Haematology, Chemistry, Botanic, Carbon 14, Mathematics, IT, Photography, Preservation.
The observation of the Shroud also offers unexpected discoveries, with the chance to move on the cloth’s surface seeking after rarely known details. Among which, for instance, the “wax drops”: in ancient times both private and public expositions were accompanied by a ceremony aimed at highlighting its importance and sacredness which involved the use of candles. In various spots of the Shroud, outside the imprint, you can notice small rounded shapes which, with the remarkable magnification achieved by the App, prove to be wax stains, both red and white colour.
Likewise, another interesting aspect emerged thanks to the image by Haltadefinizione® are some little holes in the cloth that are visible only due to the remarkable magnification. This detail dates back to the 1898 exposition when, due to the wrong indication of the sheet’s dimensions, they had to face the problem of securing the Shroud to a wrong-sized frame. The problem was “solved” by using some drawing pins” whose marks are still visible in some marginal parts of the fabric.
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