Digital Full-Dome Planetariums: From Around the World to the Edge of the

Universe
Project Summary
A new class of digital video full-dome planetaria have come online in recent years in museums and
science centers. High resolution projection systemscreate the imagery on the dome surface, and the
hardware used to provide content include dedicated video playback units as well as high-end computing
systems that can run real-time applications. The combination of the current crop of display systems with
the fast graphics hardware means a much larger public audience can now experience immersive virtual
environments than was before possible with the "classic" virtual reality technology of CAVEs and head-
mounted displays. This talk will focus particularly on the Gates Planetarium at the Denver Museum of
Nature & Science. I will review some of the new public programming made possible by the renovated
digital facility as well as future opportunities for learning and research.
Although this talk is about the new class of full-dome video digital planetariums, the history of these
theaters can be traced back many years. The idea of an immersive hemispherical display for showing
and learning about the stars goes back to Carl Zeiss’s Model 1