Fulldome refers to immersive dome-based video projection environments. The dome, horizontal or tilted, is filled with real-time (interactive) or pre-rendered (linear) computer animation

Computer animation

Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....

s, live capture images, or composited

Compositing

Compositing is the combining of visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously called "chroma key", "blue screen", "green screen" and other names. Today,...

 environments.

Although the current technology emerged in the early-to-mid 1990s, fulldome environments have evolved from numerous influences, including immersive art and storytelling, with technological roots in domed architecture

Dome

A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....

, planetarium

Planetarium

A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...

s, multi-projector film environments, flight simulation, and virtual reality

Virtual reality

Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...

.

Initial approaches to moving fulldome imagery used wide-angle lenses, both 35

35 mm film

35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...

 and 70 mm film

70 mm film

70mm film is a wide high-resolution film gauge, with higher resolution than standard 35mm motion picture film format. As used in camera, the film is wide. For projection, the original 65mm film is printed on film. The additional 5mm are for magnetic strips holding four of the six tracks of sound...

, but the expense and ungainly nature of the film medium prevented much progress; furthermore, film formats such as Omnimax

Omnimax

Omnimax may refer to:* A variation of the IMAX film format that is projected on an angled dome* A shorthand expression for a deity that is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and/or omnibenevolent...

 did not cover the full two pi

Pi

' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...

 steradian

Steradian

The steradian is the SI unit of solid angle. It is used to describe two-dimensional angular spans in three-dimensional space, analogous to the way in which the radian describes angles in a plane...

s of the dome surface, leaving a section of the dome blank (though, due to seating arrangements, that part of the dome was not seen by most viewers). Later approaches to fulldome utilized monochromatic vector graphics systems

Vector graphics

Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...

 projected through a fisheye lens

Fisheye lens

In photography, a fisheye lens is a wide-angle lens that takes in a broad, panoramic and hemispherical image. Originally developed for use in meteorology to study cloud formation and called "whole-sky lenses", fisheye lenses quickly became popular in general photography for their unique, distorted...

. Contemporary configurations employ raster video projectors, either singly or grouped together to cover the dome surface with full-color images and animations.

Fulldome video technology

Fulldome video projection can use a variety of technologies in two typical formats: single- and multiple-projector systems. The individual projector(s) can be driven by a variety of video sources, typically feeding material rendered in either real-time or “pre-rendered” modes. The end result is a video image that covers an entire domed projection surface, yielding an immersive experience that fills a viewer’s field of view.

Single- versus multiple-projector systems

Single-projector fulldome video systems use a single (or mixed) video source displayed through a single fisheye lens, typically located at or near the center of a hemispherical projection surface. A single projector has the benefit of avoiding edge blends (see below) between multiple projectors. A disadvantage of central projectors is the loss of the center of the dome for optimal viewing of the reconstructed perspective view provided by true hemispheric projection, a problem shared with traditional planetarium projectors. High quality hemispheric projection lenses like the Navitar HemiStar Dome lenses operate at the practical limits of optical performance needed for high resolution full dome coverage. Single-projector mirror systems, invented by Paul Bourke but now offered by Discovery Dome and other manufacturers, is placed on the edge of the dome to increase seating, decrease costs, and to allow analog planetariums to become digital without giving up their star projector.

Multiple-projector fulldome video systems rely on two or more video projectors edge-blended to create a seamless image that covers a hemispherical projection surface; splitting the entire image up into segments allows for higher-resolution imagery and projector placement that does not intrude on the viewing area underneath the dome. A disadvantage of multiple projection is the need to frequently adjust the alignment of projectors and the uneven aging of separate projectors leading to brightness differences between segments. Even minor performance differences between projectors can be obvious when projecting a solid color across the entire scene.

Common video projector technology

A wide variety of video projection technologies has been employed in domes, including cathode ray tube

Cathode ray tube

The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...

 (CRT), Digital Light Processing (DLP), liquid crystal display

Liquid crystal display

A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....

 (LCD), liquid crystal on silicon

Liquid crystal on silicon

Liquid crystal on silicon is a "micro-projection" or "micro-display" technology typically applied in projection televisions. It is a reflective technology similar to DLP projectors; however, it uses liquid crystals instead of individual mirrors. By way of comparison, LCD projectors use...

 (LCOS), and most recently, two varieties of laser projectors (see the laser video projector

Laser video projector

A laser video projector is a video projector that modulates a laser beam in order to project a raster-based image. The systems work either by scanning the entire picture a dot at a time and modulating the laser directly at high frequency, much like the electron beams in a CRT, or by optically...

).

For multi-projector systems in particular, display devices must have a low black level

Black level

Video black level is defined as the level of brightness at the darkest part of a visual image or the level of brightness at which no light is emitted from a screen, resulting in a pure black screen....

 (i.e., project little or no light when no signal is sent to them) to allow for reasonable edge-blending between the different projector footprints. Otherwise, overlapping video images will have an additive effect, causing a complex pattern of grey to appear even when no image is being projected. This becomes particularly important for users in the planetarium

Planetarium

A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...

 field, who have a vested interest in projecting a dark night sky. The desire for projectors to “go to black” has resulted in continued use of CRT technology, even as newer and less expensive technologies have emerged.

LCD projectors have fundamental limits on their ability to project true black as well as light, which has tended to limit their use in planetariums. LCOS and modified LCOS projectors have improved on LCD contrast ratio

Contrast ratio

The contrast ratio is a property of a display system, defined as the ratio of the luminance of the brightest color to that of the darkest color that the system is capable of producing...

s while also eliminating the “screen door” effect of small gaps between LCD pixels. “Dark chip” DLP projectors improve on the standard DLP design and can offer relatively inexpensive solution with bright images, but the black level requires physical baffling of the projectors. As the technology matures and reduces in price, laser projection looks promising for dome projection as it offers bright images, large dynamic range and a very wide color space

Color space

A color model is an abstract mathematical model describing the way colors can be represented as tuples of numbers, typically as three or four values or color components...

.

DOME lenses and standard lens are similar in some ways. They both depend on the type of display device, LCD, DLP, LCOS, DILA and the size chip or panel that is part of this device. The unique feature of the DOME lens is the actual shape of the glass, the projected image spill out from the top and all around circumference of the lens. The biggest advantage is how this type of lens maintains focus over the full 180 x 180 field of view. A single standard flat field or curved field lens would have major focus and distortion issue. Navitar

Navitar

Founded1973 TypePrivateHeadquartersRochester, New YorkKey PeopleCo-President:Jeremy Goldstein,Co-President: Julian GoldsteinIndustrySemiconductor, Biotechnology, Homeland Security, Food & Beverage, Metrology, Simulation, Presentation Products...

 Projection Optics offer DOME lenses each designed to a specific projector class and display device. These lenses can cover pixel sizes as small as 7.5 micron and resolutions such as WQXGA, WUGA and 1080P.

Fulldome video history

1983	First Evans & Sutherland Evans & Sutherland Evans & Sutherland is a computer firm involved in the computer graphics field. Their products are used primarily by the military and large industrial firms for training and simulation, and in digital projection environments like planetariums.-History:...  Digistar I calligraphic scan (projection of light points and lines - also known as vector scan) planetarium projector at the Science Museum of Virginia Science Museum of Virginia The Science Museum of Virginia is a science museum located in Richmond, Virginia.-History:In 1906, the Virginia General Assembly approved funds for the construction of a simple "exhibits center" to display mineral and timber exhibits being assembled for the Jamestown Exposition of 1907. After the...  in Richmond, Virginia Richmond, Virginia Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area... , U.S.A.
1992	First dome-based vector/calligraphic scan scientific visualization system at SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH is the name of the annual conference on computer graphics convened by the ACM SIGGRAPH organization. The first SIGGRAPH conference was in 1974. The conference is attended by tens of thousands of computer professionals... , installed by the North Carolina Supercomputing Center using a reprogrammed Digistar I for molecular visualization
1994	Alternate Realities Corporation premieres their first VisionDome prototype at Glaxo Inc. in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, U.S.A. Developed at the North Carolina Supercomputing Center, the VisionDome uses a raster scan projector (full color video) and fisheye lens to project interactive 3D graphics onto a 5 meter dome.
1995	First Evans & Sutherland Digistar II Digistar II Digistar II is a planetarium projection system by Evans & Sutherland - Digistar Users Group. It was released in the early 1990s as a descendant to the earlier Digistar, developed in the late 1970s...  calligraphic scan planetarium projector opens at the London Planetarium London Planetarium The building known as the London Planetarium is in Marylebone Road, London. It is adjacent to Madame Tussauds and is owned by the same company. A famous London landmark, it was once a notable tourist attraction, housing a "Planetarium", which offered shows relating space and astronomy... , UK
	British Telecom uses a vertical five-meter Alternate Realities Corporation VisionDome for its “Shared Spaces” media environment research programme, incorporating computer graphics, virtual landscapes, data graphics, video, composited live action. and spatialized sound.
	August: Full-day SIGGRAPH '95 course entitled "Graphics Design and Production for Hemispheric Projection" introduces spherical perspective, hemispheric projection, and suggests a convergence of simulation Simulation Simulation is the imitation of some real thing available, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system....  systems employing edge-blended raster video projection, virtual reality systems such as the CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment Cave Automatic Virtual Environment A Cave Automatic Virtual Environment is an immersive virtual reality environment where projectors are directed to three, four, five or six of the walls of a room-sized cube... ), and planetarium Planetarium A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...  theaters to create a new medium with an enhanced illusion of presence. Organized by Ed Lantz with presenters Mike Hutton, Steven Savage and Chris Ward.
1996	July 13–19: First Goto Virtuarium demonstrated at the International Planetarium Society Conference in Osaka, Japan
	October 26–29: Evans & Sutherland StarRider demonstrated at Association of Science-Technology Centers Association of Science-Technology Centers The Association of Science-Technology Centers is an international organization of science centers and science museums. Members are located in more than 40 countries...  conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
1997	April: First permanent installation of Spitz ElectricSky at Northern Lights Center in Yukon Territory, Canada using three Electrohome 9500 CRT projectors, line-quadrupled video playback, and real-time edge-blends for 200x60-degree field-of-view virtual desktop.
	May 7–10: Spitz ElectricSky publicly unveiled at MAPS conference in Chadds Ford, PA.
1998	May 22 - September 30: The Oceania pavilion opens at the EXPO 98 in Lisbon, Portugal. Among numerous virtual reality exhibits, it includes The Artefact Room, a 7-metre dome VisionDome theater with interactive 3D animations of a fly-through of Atlantis that are controlled by 40 participants simultaneously.
	June 28 - July 2: Sky-Skan premieres SkyVision at the International Planetarium Society Conference in London, UK. First astronomical digital fulldome animation shown to audiences there, “Pillars of Creation” by Don Davis, as well as a Space Station animation by Home Run Pictures. This marks the first public demonstration of fulldome video, distinguished by playback of actual video—as opposed to previous efforts based on proprietary image generators using vector or raster graphics—covering a full hemisphere.
	December: Vertical dome installation by SGI and Trimension at University of Teesside, UK. December: Houston Museum of Natural Science Houston Museum of Natural Science The Houston Museum of Natural Science is a science museum located on the northern border of Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, USA. The museum was established in 1909 by the Houston Museum and Scientific Society, an organization whose goals were to provide a free institution for the people of Houston...  opens SkyVision system as a permanent public theater, with seed funding from NASA in partnership with Rice University Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States... . First playback fulldome show: "Cosmic Mysteries".
1999	Adler Planetarium Adler Planetarium The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest in existence today. Adler was founded and built in 1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of the first director of the planetarium, Philip Fox...  reopens in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., with an Evans & Sutherland StarRider system
	Evans & Sutherland premiers their first linear playback show "We Take You There" at SIGGRAPH '99 Carnegie Museum of Natural history opens the Earth Theater with a SkyVision system
2000	Hayden Planetarium Hayden Planetarium The Hayden Planetarium is a public planetarium, part of the Rose Center for Earth and Space of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, currently directed by astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson....  reopens at the American Museum of Natural History American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...  in New York, New York, U.S.A., with a Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...  Onyx2 SGI Onyx2 The SGI Onyx2, code name Kego, is a family of visualization systems developed and manufactured by SGI, introduced in 1996 to succeed the Onyx. The Onyx2's basic system architecture is based on the Origin 2000 servers, but with the notable inclusion of graphics hardware. In 2000, the Onyx2 was...  and Trimension video system
2002	BMW Group EarthLounge Premiere of the ADLIP (All-Dome Laser Image Projection) System from Carl Zeiss with SkyVision Full Dome Video System and DigitalSky from Sky-Skan and fulldome film by LivinGlobe (ag4, Exponent3) in the world's largest fulldome projection dome (24m) at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg South Africa.
2003	Clark Planetarium Clark Planetarium The Clark Planetarium is situated within the Gateway District at the intersection of 400 West and 100 South in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, USA...  (formerly Hansen Planetarium) reopens in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A., with an Evans & Sutherland Digistar 3
	Adler Planetarium Adler Planetarium The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest in existence today. Adler was founded and built in 1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of the first director of the planetarium, Philip Fox...  upgrades their StarRider to the new Evans & Sutherland Digistar 3 system. The mini-dome also opens in their production department running both the Digistar 3 SP and Producer systems.
	The first digital planetarium systems designed for the portable market are introduced independently by Digitalis Education Solutions and Sky-Skan (in partnership with Rice University and the Houston Museum of Natural Science). HMNS/Rice version subsequently diverges to become Discovery Dome.
	July 27–28: First industry-wide showcase of fulldome programming at SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH is the name of the annual conference on computer graphics convened by the ACM SIGGRAPH organization. The first SIGGRAPH conference was in 1974. The conference is attended by tens of thousands of computer professionals...  in the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center Reuben H. Fleet Science Center The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center is a science museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. Established in 1973, it was the first science museum to combine interactive science exhibits with a planetarium and an IMAX Dome theater, setting the standard that most major science museums follow today...  including full-day course on fulldome art and science entitled "Computer Graphics for Large-Scale Immersive Theaters."
	November 3: The Eugenides Planetarium of Athens, Greece, re-opens premiering its first 40 minute production "Cosmic Odyssey" with both a fulldome Sky Skan Skyvision-Digital Sky system and an Evans & Sutherland Digistar 3 system under a 24,5 meter Astrotec dome.
2004	First DomeFest held at the LodeStar Astronomy Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A.
	First ASTC Fulldome Showcase held at Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, CA
	First Immersive Cinema movie R+J(Romeo and Juliet) by LivinGlobe
	December: Beijing Planetarium New Building opens in Beijing, China, with a Silicon Graphics Onyx 300 and the first fulldome laser display (Zeiss ADLIP)
2005	GOTO installs the first complete fulldome sphere at EXPO 2005 in Aichi, Japan
2007	October: Obscura Digital and The Elumenati develop a temporary 90' diameter geodesic fulldome experience for Google's Zeitgeist event on the Google campus
2008	July: Sky-Skan demonstrates Definiti 8K: a 60,000 lumen, 8k x 8k fulldome projection system at IPS 2008 at Adler Planetarium in Chicago rivaling image quality of large-format film (system subsequently opens at Beijing Planetarium)
2009	March: University of Colorado Denver College of Arts and Media (CAM) set up a 25 Mac Octo-core Cinema 4D and After Effects Render Farm to specifically process full dome content alongside Denver Museum of Nature Science and IMERSA
2010	November: Institute of American Indian Arts opens the worlds first fully articulating digital dome.
2011	January: University of Washington Planetarium opens first 6 channel HD full dome digital projection conversion based entirely on Microsoft Research WorldWide Telescope WorldWide Telescope The WorldWide Telescope is a computer program created by Microsoft that displays the astronomical sky as maps, the 3D Universe, visualised data sets and animations. It was announced at the TED Conference in Monterey, California in February 2008. Users are able to pan around outer space and zoom as... . Done on a hardware and construction budget of 40,000 USD the planetarium features the world's largest all-sky panorama at 1 terapixel, allowing zooming to 1 arc-second per pixel anywhere in the sky. UW graduate student Philip Rosenfield presented a paper at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2010 Cosmos and EPO symposia describing the design and construction of the system.