Planetarium of the Future

Abstract

Over the last decade, hundreds of planetariums worldwide have adopted digital “fulldome” projection as their primary projection and presentation medium. This trend has far‐reaching potential for science centers. Digital planetarium capabilities extend educational and cultural programming far beyond night‐sky astronomy. These “digital domes” are, in essence, immersive visualization environments capable of supporting art and live performances and reproducing archeological sites, as well as journeying audiences through the local cluster of galaxies. Their real‐time and rapid‐update capabilities set them apart from giant screen cinemas. Studies suggest that well‐designed immersive mediums communicate concepts better, create a greater interest in learning, and are more effective than a movie screen or television at conveying scientific concepts. This article introduces digital domes as a new medium, then discusses ways in which the potential of these environments might be tapped in the future to meet scientific and cultural needs in museums of all types.

Comparing Short‐ and Long‐Term Learning Effects Between Stereoscopic and Two‐Dimensional Film at a Planetarium

“…Science museums and other informal science centers have long used stereoscopic films as educational tools (Parker, ). Most recently, stereoscopy has been used in presentations with IMAX (Counts, ), digital planetarium (Fluke and Bourke, ; Lantz, ), and digital flat screen displays (Johnson, Leigh, Morin, & Van Keken, ). There have been calls by industry leaders to use stereoscopy as part of a shift toward digital, immersive exhibitions that are more mobile and less resource intensive (Jacobsen et al., ) along with calls for more research into their general effectiveness (Steinbach, ).…”

Digital Dome Versus Desktop Display

“…Later came the IMAX movies, and now all--digital projection is quickly becoming the dominant dome projection technology. Most are Full Dome theaters, featuring a tilted hemispherical screen over the audience's heads, For a good review of digital dome technology, see (Lantz, 2011). Domes are a special case of "Giant Screen" display (John Fraser, 2012).…”

“…The key characteristic of domes is that the display fills most of the user's field of view with artificial imagery, visually immersing the user in the virtual environment. The new domes are controlled by computers, which support linear movies, but also real--time generated computer graphics and interactive content (Lantz, 2007(Lantz, , 2011. Smaller portable domes are suitable for visits to K--12 schools, often as part of a museum--based outreach program (Sumners, 2005;Sumners, 2012).…”

“…Smaller portable domes are suitable for visits to K--12 schools, often as part of a museum--based outreach program (Sumners, 2005;Sumners, 2012). Skillfully handled, the interactivity can be part of an immersive narrative (Apostolellis, 2010;Lantz, 2011), which in turn can be part of a larger curriculum. Theoretically, a digital dome is a large--format computer monitor, so it could sustain any kind of interactivity ordinarily seen in a computer game or virtual reality application.…”

The Role of Management of The Jakarta Arts Center Planetarium And Observatory In Innovation And Delivering Information To The Community

“…The planetarium is an exhibition hall or theatre with a closed semi-circular dome-shaped roof which functions as a screen, with a principal projector used to demonstrate the position and movement of stars and celestial bodies which are projected onto a screen in the dome, to the accompaniment of music. The planetarium is also an educational which uses a projector to display the location and circulation of the planets in the solar system, including the sun at the centre of the system [1] The planetarium has two service functions intended for special and general purposes. The special planetarium is used for education and research, while the general planetarium is open to the general public to provide both education and recreation.…”