Immersive Cinema

[Ed Lantz]

Few people know that there are over 500 digital domes or "fulldome" theaters in the world. These are powerful media delivery systems that excite nearly the entire retina with a high-resolution visual image with surround sound as well. Most are in planetariums and science centers. I've been working for over a decade to help birth and promote this new medium. We recently started a trade organization called IMERSA (http://www.imersa.org/) with the help of 20 founding sponsors and our community is growing.

What is interesting about the immersive medium is that you can take people on journeys to places both real and imagined, both physical and immaterial. Because you feel that you are actually present in the virtual world, visual journeys are much more compelling than on television or even ordinary cinema. Because these theaters are all digital, it is like IMAX on steroids... real-time flythroughs are possible and, in fact, most of these theaters are already loaded with a model of the known universe. You can simulate orbiting the earth, leaving the solar system, pulling back to reveal the spiral arm of our galaxy and out to the known edge of the universe.

Here is my challenge to conscious creatives: How can we bring transformative themes into these domes? Science centers require scientific accuracy, but often delve into ancient mythologies or SciArt entertainment presentations.

Got ideas for shows? Good topics? Funding sources?

Here is one that I've been helping to produce with Kenji Willaims: www.bellagaia.com
I've partnered in a small company to produce and distribute fulldome programs: www.spherical-media.com
I'm also creating larger domes for concerts, festivals and such: www.vorteximmersion.com

I've attached a couple papers (one old, one new) for your reading enjoyment plus a presentation that I did recently for the Producer's Guild of America at the Griffith Observatory's Samuel Oschin Planetarium on behalf of IMERSA.

[Bonnie Zimmermann]

Hey Ed, I have a really strong private relationship with NASA, Kennedy Space Center and the scientific private sector .. maybe we should talk at some point.

Am heading off the grid for the night. Glad to have you with us. I'll look at your papers tomorrow.

Bonnie

[Greg Roach]

Hi Ed-

It's great to meet you. I love the focus of this group.

i was just at the Griffith Observatory last weekend and I caught the planetarium show. I was VERY impressed with it in every regard and immediately became very intrigued with the potential of the format & venue.

The thing that immediately springs to mind is to explore the wisdom encoded in Ancient sites: archeoastronomy, solar, lunar and celestial alignments, etc. I've been studying this (and visiting these places) for years now and it's a consistent theme in ancient architecture all over the world. There's enough grounding in science, astrophysics and astronomy that it could pass the "sniff test" with those communities, but it's a gateway to the ancient principles of harmony and integration that can help open audiences minds and hearts to an expanded way of being.

Here are some links:
http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2005/index.htm
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/AO/
http://connect.larc.nasa.gov/programs/2004-2005/ancient/index.html
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/nasa_connect_ancient_obse...
http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~tlaloc/archastro/

[Ed Lantz]

Hi Bonnie,

Indeed, we should connect! You'll appreciate the paper that I presented in Tokyo recently (Lantz_SessionD_v1.pdf - attached to the original message). I'm basically saying that scientists have a duty to share scientific visualizations with the public, especially poets, artists and storytellers...

e

Bonnie Zimmermann said:

Hey Ed, I have a really strong private relationship with NASA, Kennedy Space Center and the scientific private sector .. maybe we should talk at some point.

Am heading off the grid for the night. Glad to have you with us. I'll look at your papers tomorrow.

Bonnie

[Ed Lantz]

Hi Greg,

I love archeoastronomy! It is a great context for bringing cultural and mythological topics into the dome. One such project currently underway is Maya Skies (http://www.informalscience.org/project/show/668), funded by NSF.

What is more difficult is to bring modern cultural topics into the dome and, especially, topics involving consciousness. I see the dome as a natural place to explore physical, cultural and personal cosmologies - the "big picture" of the universe and what it all "means." These big questions often overlap religious beliefs and also tread on the fringes of science and what is knowable. And yet, such mysteries have driven the careers of many scientists.

Another topic that I believe will find its way into the dome is earth science and ecological responsibility. With Bella Gaia (www.bellagaia.com - see attached paper) we're seeking to inspire a conservation instinct through immersing visitors in the beauties of the earth and her many cultures (no finger-pointing here about recycling or conservation). he program is currently a SciArt presentation, but we also plan to turn it into a science show.

So Greg, what is your involvement with archeoastronomy? Got any good stories that need to be told? Interested in collaborating on a digital planetarium show?

e

Greg Roach said:

Hi Ed-

It's great to meet you. I love the focus of this group.

i was just at the Griffith Observatory last weekend and I caught the planetarium show. I was VERY impressed with it in every regard and immediately became very intrigued with the potential of the format & venue.

The thing that immediately springs to mind is to explore the wisdom encoded in Ancient sites: archeoastronomy, solar, lunar and celestial alignments, etc. I've been studying this (and visiting these places) for years now and it's a consistent theme in ancient architecture all over the world. There's enough grounding in science, astrophysics and astronomy that it could pass the "sniff test" with those communities, but it's a gateway to the ancient principles of harmony and integration that can help open audiences minds and hearts to an expanded way of being.

Here are some links:
http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2005/index.htm
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/AO/
http://connect.larc.nasa.gov/programs/2004-2005/ancient/index.html
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/nasa_connect_ancient_obse...
http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~tlaloc/archastro/

[Greg Roach]

Good morning Ed! You've got some terrific ideas here.

10 seconds on me: MFA in directing, spent 15 years in interactive media making high-end interactive films (X-Files, Quantum Gate, etc), hold multiple patents, saw God in Egypt 10 years ago and started traveling the world in search of sacred sites. Now I have a spiritual travel & media company (we primarily focus on Egypt, Bali, China). I know guys like Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, John Anthony West, quite well.

So, in a nutshell, absolutely I'd like to collaborate!


Ed Lantz said:

Hi Greg,

I love archeoastronomy! It is a great context for bringing cultural and mythological topics into the dome. One such project currently underway is Maya Skies (http://www.informalscience.org/project/show/668), funded by NSF.

What is more difficult is to bring modern cultural topics into the dome and, especially, topics involving consciousness. I see the dome as a natural place to explore physical, cultural and personal cosmologies - the "big picture" of the universe and what it all "means." These big questions often overlap religious beliefs and also tread on the fringes of science and what is knowable. And yet, such mysteries have driven the careers of many scientists.

Another topic that I believe will find its way into the dome is earth science and ecological responsibility. With Bella Gaia (www.bellagaia.com - see attached paper) we're seeking to inspire a conservation instinct through immersing visitors in the beauties of the earth and her many cultures (no finger-pointing here about recycling or conservation). he program is currently a SciArt presentation, but we also plan to turn it into a science show.

So Greg, what is your involvement with archeoastronomy? Got any good stories that need to be told? Interested in collaborating on a digital planetarium show?

e

Greg Roach said:

Hi Ed-

It's great to meet you. I love the focus of this group.

i was just at the Griffith Observatory last weekend and I caught the planetarium show. I was VERY impressed with it in every regard and immediately became very intrigued with the potential of the format & venue.

The thing that immediately springs to mind is to explore the wisdom encoded in Ancient sites: archeoastronomy, solar, lunar and celestial alignments, etc. I've been studying this (and visiting these places) for years now and it's a consistent theme in ancient architecture all over the world. There's enough grounding in science, astrophysics and astronomy that it could pass the "sniff test" with those communities, but it's a gateway to the ancient principles of harmony and integration that can help open audiences minds and hearts to an expanded way of being.

Here are some links:
http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2005/index.htm
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/AO/
http://connect.larc.nasa.gov/programs/2004-2005/ancient/index.html
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/nasa_connect_ancient_obse...
http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~tlaloc/archastro/