PLANETARIUMS
Evans & Sutherland’s Sea Monsters. The company hopes perfecting 3D technology will encourage operators
Global Immersion, which has also con-
tributed a fulldome 3D system to Athens’ Tholos theatre, created the fi rst ever com- bined large format 3D and fulldome theatre at Sweden’s Cosmonova in 2008; the com- pany also recently became distributor for Intensity3D, a digital cinema solution from 7thSense using two Christie Digital Cinema projectors to create an extremely bright, geometrically-correct 3D large format image on a domed screen. The technol- ogy, which was developed by 7thSense in conjunction with Sirius 3D, made its debut at the Tycho Brahe planetarium in Copenhagen last year. “We recently dem- onstrated Intensity3D at the Giant Screen Cinema Association meeting in San Diego and are actively pursuing several leads,” says 7thSense director Adam Neale. But 3D planetarium content doesn’t have
to be limited to fi lm. Many digital fulldome planetariums already use software for the dome that allows viewers to experience fl ights through models of space in real time — now these models can also appear in stereoscopic 3D at planetariums, with the right equipment. Evans & Sutherland’s new Digistar 4 system features spheri- cal 3D, which uses technology similar to Micoy’s but for real time models, allowing them to appear in 3D stereo everywhere on the dome. RSA Cosmos’s SkyExplorer soft- ware, another platform offering the ability to fl y through real time 3D models, is stere- oscopic 3D compatible, as is Sky-Skan’s DigitalSky platform. Sky-Skan’s Savage is particularly excited about a real time model of the Gobi Desert’s Mongao Caves, show- cased at Dome Day in stereoscopic 3D. Built from a computer model of the site, it
allows a guide to take viewers around the caves on a 3D tour. “It shows better detail than if you were in
the cave itself, where you’re only allowed to have a fl ashlight,” Savage says.
GOING 4WARD
With 3D on the horizon, will 4D be next? Some planetariums already have a 4D setup minus 3D stereo. New York’s Hayden Planetarium, for example, has bass shaker drivers in its seats, which shake to simu- late events like explosions. “There’s more interest in the marketplace that we’re experiencing in having 4D rather than 3D,” says Global Immersion’s Howe. And 4D is already beginning to be used in conjunc- tion with stereoscopic 3D at domes. RSA Cosmos recently sold a 3m (£2.7m, $4.1m) fulldome 4D planetarium to be installed in Rainbow Magic Land in Italy – which will include a fulldome 3D projec- tion system using Infi tec, and 240 4D seats. “Other 4D projects are being discussed in Europe, the Middle East, India and Asia,” RSA Cosmos’ Christophe Bertier says. The Macao Science Center Planetarium
also features 4D seats with ‘butt kickers’ along with its 3D stereo dome. As is often the case with 4D seats in planetariums, their sound was distracting at fi rst and had to be reworked, Savage says. “You don’t use it for the whole show, just when it makes sense, and it’s more effective.” This is easier to accomplish now that 4D seat technology is more sophisticated,
Because of their size, 3D domed planetariums need twice as many pro- jectors as a normal 3D screen
32
Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital
Howe says. “There’s a higher level of con- trol that lends itself better to the subtle nature of planetarium fi lms.” Imersa’s Ed Lantz agrees that 4D in planetariums is best used subtly. “The power of immer- sive media is quite engaging and the wow-factor is probably best maximised by investing in compelling programming instead of multi-sensory stimuli,” he says. 3D sound to complement 3D planetar- ium content is also on the horizon. “A good 3D sound track makes it that much more fun,” Savage says. “Not many people are doing it because it’s just as expensive as the projection systems.” Iosono Sound has produced an eight-channel stereo system “where the sound would have depth and be placed at the same positions as the images are placed,” Savage notes. With its costs and challenges, it will be a while before 3D overtakes most plan- etariums. Lantz notes that the effect of a large 2D fulldome theatre, where viewers enjoy an immersive experience without glasses, can actually trump fulldome 3D, where glasses limit the fi eld of view. “Also, some planetariums feel the portrayal of astronomical phenomena in 3D stereo is inaccurate, since visual parallax is only suffi cient for stereo vision of objects within
10m or so of the viewer,” he says. Hence, content requires large camera distances for astronomical models to be accurate. But a few more planetariums are set
to go 3D in the near future. This summer, Evans & Sutherland will install an Infi tec 3D system in the Chinese Maritime Museum’s domed theatre, and the Norrköpings Visualization Center, launching in Sweden this year, will contain a 3D dome. Slowly but surely, more and more planetarium- goers will be donning 3D glasses. ●
AM 2 2010 ©cybertrek 2010
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86