Anyone here been to one of these?

[vjpixylight]

http://www.barco.com/projection_systems/images/papalote.jpg

It is called the I-Dome, and is headed up by Barco (http://www.barco.com/Edutainment/en/products/product.asp?element=1897)

[seex]

yeah, i been in in one in Copenhagen, its in the planetarium, first they projecetd the night sky and than zoomed round, than i saw a digital animation of rolecosters, almost fell from the seat. The projector is about the size of my living room. I heard the camera is about the same size.

Actualy i think its a diferent type of dome, by IMAX

take a look (http://www.tycho.dk/imagecatalogue/imageview/299//7?RefererURL=/article/view/134/)

[vjpixylight]

Originally posted by seex
yeah, i been in in one in Copenhagen, its in the planetarium, first they projecetd the night sky and than zoomed round, than i saw a digital animation of rolecosters, almost fell from the seat. The projector is about the size of my living room. I heard the camera is about the same size.

Actualy i think its a diferent type of dome, by IMAX

take a look (http://www.tycho.dk/imagecatalogue/imageview/299//7?RefererURL=/article/view/134/)

No this is a different company, Barco, but the same basic idea:)

I was just wondering how common viewing movie's and the like are
with these new fisheye-360 degrees and IMAX formats?

[littlecatalyst]

barco?? as in how-the-hell-do-i-get-that-350-pound-projector (50 stone?)-up-on-the-ceiling barco?
my how they've grown up.....

look like sooo much fun!!!

[seex]

The seats are similar to those lazy chears, they strch a bit when you sit in them, and it becomes clear why when the movie starts, its imposible to seat still douring the projection, some poeple even get dizzy. There were people actualy screeming douring the film.

[neoteo]

i have seen a movie in one of those , in sevilha , spain

it was like a demo movie , roler coasters , helicopter , etc

i can say the feeling was amazing , i got dizzie ...

really felt like the theater was moving

[vjpixylight]

Originally posted by littlecatalyst
barco?? as in how-the-hell-do-i-get-that-350-pound-projector (50 stone?)-up-on-the-ceiling barco?
my how they've grown up.....

look like sooo much fun!!!

mama mia!

[akira_k]

Originally posted by vjpixylight
I was just wondering how common viewing movie's and the like are
with these new fisheye-360 degrees and IMAX formats? I don't know how new this is, I saw an IMAX movie like the one seex mentioned in a museum in Detroit in 1999.

Would be fab to do visuals in such a setup :D

[id]

ok, you've touched on a subject near and dear to my obsessions, so here's a rant with more information than you could possibly want. it's not a complete list of everything out there, but it should get you started:

digital dome theaters are increasingly common, especially in science centers and planetaria. the system you've shown here uses Barco projectors, but the systems are usually integrated by Spitz (http://www.spitzinc.com), Sky-Skan (http://www.skyskan.com) , E&S (http://www.es.com/products/digital+theater/index.asp) , SEOS (http://www.seos.com/dome.htm) or some other vendor. some prime examples of theaters in North America are the Hayden (http://www.amnh.org/rose/haydenplanetarium.html) in NYC, Gates (http://www.dmns.org/main/en/General/Visit/AccessAndSpecialNeeds/Gates+Planetarium.htm) in Denver, Lodestar (http://www.lodestar.unm.edu/) in New Mexico, Papalote (http://www.barco.com/corporate/en/pressreleases/show.asp?index=851) in Mexico City, or the Burke Baker (http://www.hmns.org/see_do/dome_theatre.asp?r=1) in Houston. all of these use multiple projectors, geometry correction engines, and edge blenders. these have been around for about 6 years and more and more are being installed all the time. all of these are used primarily for astronomy applications, but recently Obscura Digital (http://www.obscuradigital.com/) has started doing smaller multi-projector systems for trade shows, clubs, and such. if you want a real treat, catch one of the real-time shows at the Hayden or Gates. they've got massive multi-pipe SGIs driving the systems, and nothing beats a good real-time fly-through of the universe.

in terms of a digital IMAX-style domes, Elumens (http://www.elumens.com) has been developing smaller single fisheye lens systems for over 10 years. E&S has been doing single-lens planetarium-specific systems for a long time as well. since projectors have gotten higher and higher res and GPU power has increased, you can now use a 2048x1536 single-lens system to fill and entire large dome. the blacks aren't as good as you can get from CRT arrays, but these systems are excellent if you're not too worried about faithfully reproducing the night sky.

i've been working with the single lens systems for a long time for lots of non-astronomy applications (including flight sim, robotic simulation, training systems, museums installations, trade shows, etc). for the past few years we've been pushing to get more and more video artists to start exploring dome theaters. single-projector systems drive down the total cost considerably, enabling more access to experimental systems. we are currently working with numerous groups to begin seeding these systems around the world so independent artists can get access to them (and so we can get more competition at Domefest (http://www.domefest.com)!). for instance, Vidvox/VDSP (http://www.vidvox.net) is installing the 30 ft Molecularium (http://www.rpi.edu/web/News/press_releases/2004/molecularium.htm) dome in Troy, NY, Sky-Skan is selling definiti (http://www.skyskan.com/Products/definiti/cont.html), and HMNS/CMU are developing the Immersive Earth (http://www.spacedaily.com/news/skynightly-04e.html) dome - all of them based on the elumenati HAL systems.

we've worked on a number of art-oriented systems (like the Dream Temple (http://www.homestead.com/thedreamexperience/files/dreamtem.htm) in 1999), and will be doing a single-projector 30 ft dome (http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/~lv8/dome/) at Burning Man with some other folks in a couple of months if all goes well. we're looking for folks to come and plug in to try out the system, so let me know if you're interested...

i.d.
master diatribulator
the elumenati (http://www.elumenati.com)

[id]

this thread made me realize the lack of consolidated information out there about immersive dome displays and immersive imaging techniques, so i've started up fulldome.org (http://www.fulldome.org). check it out if you're interested in these topics...

[elbows]

Excellent, cheers for the info, and hoorah for fulldome.org - good plan. My lack of budget has kep me away from dome stuff so far, but I love to read about it anyway :)

BBC News 24 here in the UK ran a story about some Planetarium-style dome that was being used in America (possibly New York) for a "multimedia show" recently, and they were saying the usual oversimplified-for-tv type stuff about how revolutionary this all is. Still it was nice to see them focus on the reaction of the audience a bit, people seemed impressed.

Unfortunately the details of exactly where/what it was have slipped my mind, can anybody work out what it was from my dodgy description?

[id]

i'm 99% sure it was about SonicVision (http://www.amnh.org/rose/dome/?src=r_sps), a show at the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium (http://www.amnh.org/rose/?src=footer). part of the reason i'm starting fulldome.org is to provide a forum to critique these types of works so we can look beyond the feel-good "revolutionary" press releases and really find out what these environments are good for.

there was also Domefest (http://www.domefest.com/) recently in New Mexico, that featured lots of indepenent shorts from folks experimenting with the medium...

[RayV]

Like you elbows, i'm very interested on the Dome subject -
even the lack of budjet, (one get used to it.. emmm.. sometimes)
i am colecting any info about it.
I would love to get seriously into projects involved 360 screening,
- very happy to have all that vital info :), thanks !

[many2]

I am doing research and prototyping for an upcoming project for a client and here is some amazing technology we might use : Full dome video laser projection. I'd wish I could tell you more but I can't since I am under NDA (non-disclosure agreement).

Developed by Carl Zeiss and Jenoptik these new laser projection systems are also made primarily for planetariums. There are many revolutionary features coming with laser video projection solutions :

-- Pure perfect black : if a part of the image is black then no light at all is oprojected there.

-- 50 000 : 1 contrast ratio (500:1 average for conventional projectors)

-- Much wider colorspace giving you access to colors you can't see on a normal projector - high-satured colors are perfect !

-- infinite focus

-- You can't see the pixels on the image since the image is a single pixel moving very fast with the help of a moving lens.

-- There is one downside : They are pretty damn expensive - more than multi-projector barco setups. For a planetarium wanting full-dome video laser projection you'd have to pay more than a million $.


This is the future.

Want to know more :

Zeiss Zulip and Adlip solutions (they make the optics)
http://www.zeiss.de/de/planetarium/home_e.nsf/78be232b5368b1b2c12566fe003b2602/fb4ba84ac9b69203c1256ccb004f02f4?OpenDocument

Laser projection technology from Jenoptik (they make the laser)
http://www.jenoptik-laserdisplay.de/englisch/index_en.htm

[id]

many2,

great to hear you're working on this! the zeiss adlip system was used at the International Planetarium Society meeting last month in Valencia, Spain. i didn't make it, but everyone i've talked to said the saturation and dynamic range were quite amazing. they showed all of the Domefest pieces (including my live capture time lapse piece i made with a 14 megapixel still camera that won best of show :D) and reports were glowing with respect to how it looked.

there are only a few of them at this point (in Germany, Beijing, Valencia) - does this mean there's one being built in Montreal??? supposedly the first one in the us is being built in south carolina to open in spring '05.

btw, more on the zeiss and other systems can be found on within the fulldome links (http://www.fulldome.org/index.php?option=com_weblinks&Itemid=4&catid=7) .

are you modifying visualjockey for dome applications?

i.d.

[many2]

Fulldome.org is a great initiative. I already found a great wealth of information I hadn't seen before on the subject - thanks !

There won't be a laser-projector in Montreal before the one opening in south-carolina in spring 2005 - the project I am working on isn't in Montreal and it's a long term thing with nothing public before 2006 or 2007 at least.

About using visualJockey to drive real-time full-dome visuals I have indeed worked on one or two prototypes already. I also used a custom vJo-Hippotizer hybrid solution for the Ars_Natura installation in the Montreal subway (which isn't full-dome panoramic). I am now using prototype next-generation Hippotizer technology to drive this kind of things - but I can't talk much about that either :( - well, for now ;)

I am particularly interested in recent developments about smart-projectors using simple, standard and affordable PC and video camera solutions. I have been invited to present artwork at art-futura (http://www.artfutura.org/03/english/index.html) using this technology but I don't know if I'll be able to make it. That project would be with Luc Courchesne, one of the first here in Montreal to use Elumens lenses, and Sebastien Roy, who's doing research on complex graphics stuff at the University of Montreal. Yan Breuleux, with whom I worked on many real-time immersive art projects, is also invited to present the result of our research and his own immersive artwork. Anyways, if you want to learn more about smart-projection (automatic video deformation compensation) you can check those links :
http://www.tot.sat.qc.ca/eng/immersion.html
http://www.tot.sat.qc.ca/eng/lighttwist.html
http://www2.iro.umontreal.ca/~vision/incoming/stl.html/

I guess it would be a good idea to add these links to fulldome.org
:)

[many2]

By the way the first ever demonstration of the Zeiss laser video projection technology has been happening here in Montreal 4 years ago - I only recently learned about it though ! It was for a international planetarium convention. Someone told me the people were so impressed that the had to make a rerun of the demonstration show the day after just so everyone could see it.

[audio]

I've been to Imax aswell... VJing in it, now that would be somehting else! :)