The worldwide planetarium and astronomy community will gather at the Adler Planetarium and the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place for the 19th biennial conference of the International Planetarium Society (IPS) - a week of sessions, vendor exhibits and facility tours, June 27-July 2. IPS 2008 will be a substantial conference - and this year, a special, all-day supplementary session spotlighting FullDome theater technology will take place on July 3.

The July 3 FullDome Summit and DomeFest, co-sponsored by the IPS FullDome Video Committee and the Adler, will keep many IPS delegates in town a day or two longer, and bring in new attendees from outside the planetarium market.

There are currently more than 400 fulldome theaters around the world. Most are in planetariums and educational institutions. The total is expected to reach 600-800 in the next two years, and the type of venue is diversifying. Prominent locations include the American Museum of Natural History (Hayden Planetarium, New York), Griffith Observatory (Los Angeles) and the Adler Planetarium (Chicago).

Recognizing that FullDome is expanding into new special venue markets, from within IPS a new trade group has formed, called IMERSA (Immersive Media, Entertainment, Research, Science & Arts). IMERSA is conducting the July 3 FullDome Summit, a day of panels, roundtables, demos and presentations exploring  technologies, standards, markets and IMERSA's own role. Taking as its theme "The Future of FullDome," the FullDome Summit will be held at the Hyatt Regency.

The FullDome Summit during the day at the Hyatt will be followed by DomeFest 2008 in the evening at the Adler. DomeFest is the equivalent of a film festival for the digital dome: an annual screening of fulldome shows and related sessions that explore the artistic and entertainment potential of the medium in addition to its scientific and educational applications. DomeFest also includes the juried "Domie" Awards.

"We are so pleased that IPS and the Adler have helped make the FullDome Summit possible," says Dan Neafus, one of the founders of IMERSA. "This gathering is the perfect occasion for the inauguration of IMERSA and an ideal forum for networking with international leaders and pioneers in the field. We are making digital history."

IPS president Susan Reynolds Button emphasizes, "IPS members and planetariums can always benefit from expanding their horizons. That is why we are supportive of collaboration with FullDome digital developers from all venues. IPS is interested in each of IMERSA's stated objectives and will again have a large presence at DomeFest. We look forward to promoting many more cooperative initiatives through our IPS FullDome Video Committee."

Registration Details

IPS 2008 delegates may register for the FullDome Summit free of charge. There is an additional $50 charge for DomeFest. For those not attending IPS, registration is $75 for both events, or $50 for DomeFest only. Online registration for both the FullDome Summit and DomeFest is available at www.acteva.com/go/domefest. Online registration for the IPS 2008 conference is available at www.ips2008.org.

New Directions for FullDome

In addition to members of the planetarium and science center community, the FullDome Summit and DomeFest are drawing the interest of filmmakers, digital artists and other content creators interested in exploring the new medium, theater consultants and system designers/integrators interested in knowing about its possibilities for future projects, and museum operators looking for a unique new attraction. Entertainment operators, houses of worship, corporate marketers, special event producers, video game developers and even casinos are all showing interest in fulldome.

"Fulldome systems are facilitating a kind of democracy for educational institutions in terms of presentation and affordability. Systems come in all sizes and all budgets. They can all make use of the same library of pre-rendered content. Relatively low costs enable many venues to produce their own shows," writes Bayley Silleck, an Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker (Cosmic Voyage, Wired to Win) in the article "Digital Dome-Ocracy," (IPM Magazine, April-May 2008).

"Planetarium and fulldome projection technology... is advancing rapidly and may be one of the routes of salvation for giant-screen dome theaters," writes consultant John Jacobsen of White Oak Associates, a museum and theater planner (LF Examiner, Jan 2008).

FullDome Facts

All fulldome systems combine the ability to navigate three-dimensional digital databases in real time (including detailed terrain models of the earth and extensive astrophysical models of the universe) with a playback system for exhibiting pre-rendered shows. Operators often combine these functions with live narration. A variety of scripting and production software applications exist for creating shows from the database fly-throughs. Pre-rendered shows all use a common Domemaster format enabling them to be played back on any fulldome system.

The current library of pre-rendered shows numbers more than 100 titles. Theater sizes vary. Of existing fulldome-equipped theaters, close to 100 domes exceed 50-feet in diameter, about 25 domes are 70-feet or larger, and the rest are 40-feet in diameter or smaller (some are portable). The projection system can range from a single fisheye unit to an array of six or more edge-blended projectors. Fulldome system providers include Evans & Sutherland, E&S Spitz, Global Immersion,  Sky-Skan, RSA Cosmos, Zeiss, GOTO, Barco, Konica Minolta, Elumenati, Digitalis, e-Planetarium, Swinburne, Obscura Digital and Learning Technologies. 

IMERSA (Immersive Media, Entertainment, Research, Science & Arts) is a professional organization founded to advance and promote the art and science of large-scale digital immersive media and immersive group experiences including (but not limited to) surround digital theaters and digital (fulldome) planetarium theaters. Mandated to raise the profile and professionalism of its members, IMERSA bridges many disciplines including researchers, artists and technicians. IMERSA is a driver and nexus for communication, collaboration, experimentation, education and promotion of digital immersive media in a variety of formats and functions.

IMERSA Founding Committee
Dan Neafus, Gates Planetarium Operations Manager, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Ed Lantz of Visual Bandwith, Inc., Chadds Ford, PA
Ryan Wyatt, Director of the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences and Chair of the IPS FullDome Committee
David Beining, Associate Director of Immersive Media, LodeStar Astronomy Center, University of New Mexico and founder/organizer of DomeFest
David McConville of Elumenati, Asheville, NC

DomeFest, the global fulldome festival, is a production of the ARTS Lab @ UNM and made possible through the support of its sponsors and supporting domes, including Adler Planetarium and Chabot Space & Science Center. DomeFest is organized by David Beining, Associate Director of Immersive Media, LodeStar Astronomy Center at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

The International Planetarium Society, founded in 1970, is the global association of planetarium professionals. Its nearly 700 members come from 35 countries around the world. They represent schools, colleges and universities, museums, and public facilities of all sizes, including both fixed and portable planetariums. The primary goal of the Society is to encourage the sharing of ideas among its members through conferences, publications, and networking. IPS membership is open to anyone interested in planetariums. Members include directors, teachers, technicians, writers, artists, media specialists, presenters, vendors, scientists, students and sponsors and friends of the planetarium dome and its starry sky. Twenty-three regional and national planetarium associations from around the world are affiliated with IPS.

The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum - America's First Planetarium fulldome theater Adler- was founded in 1930 by Chicago business leader Max Adler. The museum is home to two full-size planetarium theaters, including the world's first fulldome planetarium theater, a 3D theater, and one of the world's most important antique scientific instrument collections. The Adler is a recognized leader in science education, with a focus on inspiring young people, particularly women and minorities, to pursue careers in science.
 
See also:
FullDome 101, Part I by Ed Lantz
FullDome Focus: New & Exclusive coverage from Blooloop
World's First Fulldome 3D Stereo Planetarium Created at Imiloa

Images: left, inside the fulldome theater at the Adler Planetarium. Above right: Inside the fulldome theater at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, copyright DMNS. Top and home page : Fulldome display in 90-foot dome in Dubai, created by The Brand Experience for Nakheel