September 2016

Visitors to the 5th China Charity Fair in Shenzhen, China were drawn to the “big black ball” at the Chen Yidan Foundation exhibit. Those who queued for a closer look discovered the “ball” was actually an eight meter (25 foot) 360° digital dome theatre and, once inside, were treated to an immersive show exploring the cultural history of the Miao people. The Miao are one of over 50 officially recognized ethnic minorities in China and include the Hmong people, who have a large diaspora in South East Asia and beyond to the western world. The three-minute show was created specifically for the Chen Yidan Foundation by 360ART.pro. It features stunning animation based on a traditional Miao butterfly motif and a beautiful soundtrack.

At the conclusion of the fair the dome was relocated to a plaza in Shenzhen, where the public could continue to delight in the show. Portable domes and easy to setup projection systems from Fulldome.pro make short term installations like this feasible.

The Chen Yidan Foundation was established in 2013 by philanthropist and co-founder of internet giant Tencent, Charles Chen, to preserve and promote traditional Chinese culture and education.

In September 2016, we installed a 10 meter (33 foot) diameter closed dome at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center for the 18th China International Optoelectronic Exposition (COIE). The four-day expo showcased cutting-edge innovations from the fields of as diverse as biophotonics, quantum communications, optics, and augmented and virtual reality technologies. There were almost 4,000 visitors to the dome, many of them new to fulldome cinema. They enjoyed the immersive thrills of “Flight of Fancy”, which takes the audience on a record breaking parachute jump from the edge of space, to a subterranean aquatic journey. Those who were a little more familiar with fulldome cinema were impressed by the portability of the dome and the ease of system operations. All agreed that there is a place for fulldome cinema outside of the traditional museum and science center environments and this was reflected in fresh interest from education technology companies in addition to the usual astronomical science organizations.

The dome was such a hit it drew the attention of China Central Television (CCTV), who interviewed our staff, to discuss the features and advantages of the Fulldome.pro system, the broad range of content available and how the modern digital environment and the latest dome and projection technology makes fulldome cinema an ideal media platform for art, education, entertainment and science.

In August 2016 our team braved the sun, wind, dirt and dust in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, once again, to realize the Museum of Visionary Artists (MOVA) Gallery for the annual community of dreamers on the playa. We set up a 12 meter closed dome, where participants could take a trip into their own minds with the help of the stunning visuals of Samskara and Luminokaya. When it was all over we packed up, shook of the dust and left the desert as we had found it – ready to welcome us back again.