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Museum & Heritage Show, May 11 & 12, London

The Fulldome team is delighted to be heading to London shortly, to exhibit at the long-awaited Museum and Heritage Show. This popular free event is well overdue, having been postponed several times due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Held at Olympia Exhibition Centre in West Kensington, London, the annual Museum Heritage & Show is viewed as a staple in the calendar of yearly events, for anybody involved in the museum and heritage sector.
As a first-time exhibitor at the Show, we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to bring Fulldome.pros immersive dome experiences to the museum and heritage sector. We feel sure that our versatile and affordable projection dome solutions will help inspire many future temporary and permanent museum exhibitions.
Manning our booth at the show will be Neil Davenport, Director, Fulldome.pro Australia. Neil has worked for Fulldome.pro for many years and knows everything there is to know about our projection dome technology. Please don’t hesitate to drop by the booth to speak with Neil about any aspect of our business. If you would like to contact him in advance to arrange a meeting time, please email Neil at: neil.davenport@fulldome.pro

We’re also very excited to be exhibiting a 3-meter projection dome with custom-designed 360 content at the Museum & Heritage Show. Over the years, we’ve discovered that no amount of talking about our products beats the impact of a real-life immersive experience in a projection dome. 

So, be sure to visit our booth and dome and let us help you bring some futuristic, immersive technology to your next museum or heritage exhibition. Look forward to seeing you there!

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360 Digital Christmas Dome Special

Christmas Dome

Now that November is well and truly upon us, it’s time to start planning Christmas events. Are you organizing a Christmas party or community event to attract big crowds and get everybody into the Joyful spirit? The good news is you can still rent one of our Christmas-themed projection domes.

Projection domes are quick and easy to set up and break down, making them perfect for pop-up Christmas events. They can be used to create pop-up ice rinks with stunning ceiling visuals or immersive sit-down 360 Christmas shows.
The effective use of 360-degree immersive graphics transport kids and adults into an unforgettable magical Christmas wonderland.

At Fulldome.pro, our graphics team can create a Christmas show to fit your specifications, or you can choose one of our existing shows that have entertained audiences for years. We’ll personalize the dome covers with your company logo or Christmas graphics to create a really eye-catching venue.

Please get in touch with our friendly sales staff today if you’d like more information about our 360 Digital Christmas Dome special. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.

Christmas Dome
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After Sales Support to Get the Most From the Projection System

Services

After Sales Support

Fulldome.pro provides support to ensure clients have everything they need to get the most from their domes and projection systems

Every Fulldome.pro project includes a one-year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship.

In addition, we offer free, online post-sale support for the whole year, and the opportunity to purchase extended warranties and support services.

Many hours of research and development have made Fulldome.pro technology intuitive and easy to use. In-person end-user training is included during or after installation and comprehensive operation manuals are provided. These factors combine to make sure your team is ready to operate and maintain the dome from day one. Refresher training can be provided for new staff if required.

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One of The Biggest Library Of Fulldome Content and Shows

Services

Fulldome Content and Shows

In association with our content creation studio, 360ART, Fulldome.pro provides an extensive starter package and can create custom content

An extensive fulldome content starter package is included with the purchase of every Fulldome.pro projection system.

Additional shows and licenses can be arranged to create a specially tailored fulldome content package where needed.

Fulldome.pro partner company, 360ART, is a creator of fulldome content, including award-winning dome shows, and can create content specifically for your dome project. Many other studios, around the world, create and distribute dome content that can be 360ART also distributes and licenses shows from other studios for exhibition purchased and played on Fulldome.pro systems too.

FULLDOME SHOWS

The biggest library of fulldome shows and the largest starter content package in the market

LEARN MORE
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Quick and Simple Dome Installation

Services

Installation

Fulldome.pro domes and projection systems are designed to be fast and easy to install. Domes of 12 meters or less can be installed without the need to hire lifting equipment

The experienced Fulldome.pro installation teams work efficiently, thanks to the innovative design and quality engineering foundations of our products.

We offer the option of sending an entire team to complete the project or several supervisors to work with the clients staff or local labor.

Domes can be erected without the need for special tools and portable domes up to and including 12 meters diameter can be built without a lift, crane, or even a ladder, thereby minimizing installation costs. This is made possible by using strong but lightweight materials – like aircraft-grade aluminum for the dome frame and durable, polyester fabrics for screens and covers.

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Logistics to Ensure Your Dome Is Delivered Efficiently

Services

Logistics

The Fulldome.pro logistics team ensure your dome is delivered efficiently and ready for installation when you need it

The Fulldome.pro factory and logistics team are experts at packing our products securely and efficiently for shipping.

 A 14-meter mobile projection can be dome packed on four standard pallets or an 8-meter mobile dome on a single pallet. Our clients are always surprised to hear that a 12-meter dome be transported in a minivan and a 3-metre dome in a 5-door car.

Of course, bigger projects will have different needs and requirements but, thanks to vast experience and offices around the world, Fulldome.pro is able to find the best possible shipping option.

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Safety Certifications To Meet All Regulations

Services

Safety Certifications

Materials used by Fulldome.pro have been certified for fire safety and dome frames are engineered to meet regulations

All the fabrics used in manufacturing negative pressure domes and screens have been certified to meet recognized standards for fire retardancy.

Additional certifications, required for installation in a particular country, can be obtained upon request.

In addition, domes and screen frames are certified to withstand conditions expected in the installation location. Engineering reports are available on request, to assist clients in meeting local regulations for temporaty and permanent dome structures.

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Extensive Experience In Project Management

Services

Project managment

Fulldome.pro project managers have extensive experience in all the stages of production, delivery, and installation. They provide advice throughout the project and co-ordinate activities between engineering, manufacturing, IT and logistics department

Fulldome.pro project managers serve as the main point of communication between our clients, and the engineering, manufacturing, IT, and installation teams.

Project managers bring a unique focus to their work, which is shaped by the goals and requirements of each client.

The extensive experience of our highly qualified project managers means they can give client-specific recommendations to ensure the dome, screen, and projection system perform to maximum potential. This advice includes the selection of fittings, colors, and materials for walls and floors, seating solutions and configuration, location of entrances and exits, and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning requirements.

Finally, the project manager will oversee the delivery and installation of the dome, screen and projection, and audio systems.

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End-To-End Solution Provider With In-House Manufacturing

Services

MANUFACTURING

Fulldome.pro is an end-to-end solution provider with many years in-house manufacturing experience and continual refinement, to create quality, turn-key products

Fulldome.pro has its own dome manufacturing facilities. Our portable dome frames are manufactured in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It includes in-house sewing of fabric projection screens and dome covers.

Heavy-duty waterproof vinyl covers for permanent and outdoor domes are also manufactured at our Thailand facility. Being one of the only companies that makes, installs, and operates domes means Fulldome.pro can implement continuous feedback and product improvement.

This is how Fulldome.pro has come to provide the best negative-pressure projection domes and screens on the market.

The Fulldome.pro engineering team also works closely with third-party fabricators around the world to design and produce support trusses and other specialist components of projection domes. In-house engineering and manufacturing allows Fulldome.pro to be an end-to-end provider from concept to installation and beyond, saving our customer’s time, energy, and money.

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High-Quality Detailed Engineering

Services

ENGINEERING

HIGH-QUALITY DETAILED ENGINEERING UNDERPINS EVERY FULLDOME.PRO PROJECT, WHETHER IT IS AN EXISTING DOME DESIGN OR A BESPOKE DEVELOPMENT

Our in-house engineering team can handle even the most challenging projects.

We work with other suppliers and builders, to integrate domes, screens, and projection systems into large construction projects and new developments.

Standard dome solutions

Each of our standard domes has been engineered to be fit-for-purpose. Structural reports are available to ensure domes meet local approvals.

Fulldome.pro has a range of domes from 1.5 meters (4.5 feet) to 30 meters (100 feet) in diameter to suit most needs. Each of these domes use a proven design and incorporates years of continual improvement and refinement. Our engineers ensure the design is fit-for-purpose and will withstand the expected loads of equipment, wind, rain, or snow.

Domes

Standard or Customised Our standard domes can be bought ‘off the shelf’ with popular sizes held in stock in our offices around the world. Customised domes, on the otherhand are designed and manufactured to our client’s exact specifications. Standard domes

Customized dome solutions

Our engineers can design domes of any size and configuration and provide documentation to meet building requirements and standards.

When one of many existing designs can’t be used, Fulldome.pro’s experienced engineering team can design a dome to meet specific requirements. From fitting a dome screen into an existing building, to providing detailed engineering plans and specifications for architects, the engineering team has a long history of delivering innovative solutions for the trickiest of situations.

Customizations include mounting systems for supporting domes from walls, suspending from above, inclined or even vertically mounted domes, plus designing screens for existing domes. As with standard solutions, structural reports can be provided to satisfy local building and safety requirements.

Irregular screens

Fulldome.pro engineers have a history of innovative solutions for irregularly shaped screens and structures for the most challenging applications.

The growth of flying cinema and other immersive projection environments has created a demand for irregularly shaped screens that are neither flat, curved on a single axis, nor domed. Our engineers have created truncated, elliptical, and capsule-type screens for a variety of projects.

In certain circumstances, a frameless, negative-pressure screen can be used where the building itself forms the outer shell or an air-tight envelope is created by fixing a fabric membrane inside a void. The ingenuity of the Fulldome.pro engineering team has allowed these irregular screens to be installed without complex, heavy, and expensive supporting structures.

Peripheral engineering

Our experienced engineers can do more than just domes, screens, and projection systems. From base structures and tiered seating platforms for domes to multi-level galleries for motion seats and moving platforms in flying theaters, right down to custom-designed mounting hardware for projectors and speakers — no job is too big or too small for the Fulldome.pro engineering team.

If you need custom engineering for entertainment, video, or audio projects Fulldome.pro has the expertise to help you.

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Five of the biggest dome theaters

Dome theaters have been around for decades but have been undergoing a resurgence in recent years, with many old domes receiving a digital upgrade and new digital dome theaters being built for theme parks and attractions. 

Large domes deliver the greatest sense of awe and wonder for immersive experiences and mean that hundreds can share these thrills together. Domes, when combined with moving seats and motion platforms transform projection from a 2D show to a 3D, 4D or flying cinematic experience. We strongly believe that well-designed and constructed digital domes theaters will play a significant role in the future of entertainment.

Let’s have a glance at some of the biggest digital dome theaters around the world!

What is 360 dome theater?

Fulldome.pro 360 dome theater is a new format of seeing and showing things, where a 360 VR immersive experience is not individualized, but actually, a shared social activity.

MSI Giant Dome Theater — Chicago, USA

Source: msichicago.org

The Museum of Science and Industry’s Giant Dome Theatre, in Chicago, Illinois, was converted from an IMAX film projector to a 3-projector, 6K laser system in 2017. 

The five-storey (22 meters) wrap-around dome screen now has the clearest, brightest, and most colorful picture the MSI has ever presented and delivers an amazing viewing experience that will blow your mind.

L'Hemisferic — Valencia, Spain

Source: architecturalmodeling.wordpress.com

L’Hemisfèric is at the heart of Valencia’s huge La Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (City of Arts and Sciences) complex. Completed in 1998, the 24-meter dome is located beneath a sweeping, 100 meter-long, ovoid roof so that the complete structure resembles an all-seeing, all-knowing eye – especially when reflected in the waters of the pool surrounding it.

The IMAX dome uses five laser projectors for stunning planetarium shows and other immersive audio-visual content.

Rotary Park 4D Theater — Jeju, South Korea

Source: archive of fulldome.pro

With 130 reclined moving seats under a 20-meter diameter screen, the Rotary Park 4D Theater at the Jeju Shinhwa World Theme Park is one of the biggest 4D dome theaters in the world. 

The Head in The Stars® system from CL Corporation provides fully-immersive motion seating with a range of sensory effects and uses a negative-pressure dome, projection system, and media Server from Fulldome.pro to provide breathtaking picture-quality. 

The audience has an almost 180º field of view, such that the screen disappears and the image, surround sound and effects fill the viewers’ minds, for a complete escape to another world.

Science Museum of Minnesota — Saint Paul, USA

Source: smm.org

At 30 meters (90 feet) in diameter, the Omnitheater at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St.Paul, USA, is clearly one of the biggest dome theaters in the world. 

It is the only RoDo screen in the world, meaning the dome that can be rotated back over the audience (like the visor on a motorbike helmet) to reveal a regular screen for flat-film projection. 

In 2019 it became one of the first domes in the world to convert to IMAX digital technology, making the vast and ever-growing inventory of digital dome content available to the twin cities.

Futuroscope — Poitiers, France

Source: futuroscope.com

The Futuroscope theme park in Poitiers, France, about 300 km southwest of Paris the is based on futuristic multimedia, cinema, audio-visual and robotic technology.

With multiple domes, it is the only venue in the world to have regular planetarium-like shows, 3D and 4D movies, and flying theater rides in one location.

The flying carpet style show comes with a screen on the floor to give the sensation of floating while watching the movie. For total screen surface area in one place, Futuroscope is hard to beat.

Dome Theaters offer a thrilling and immersive experience either as a stand-alone theater or a simulation ride.
The popularity of dome theaters has increased in recent years. Due to this, I believe it will be a major part of the success of community-based entertainment in the future.

Tatiana Retinskaya
Chief Sales Officer at Fulldome.pro
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Seasonal greetings from Fulldome.pro

2020 has been a year that almost changed everything, but one thing stays the same – our appreciation of you. Thanks to your immeasurable interest, support, and partnership, Fulldome.pro has survived this crazy ride to still be here for you. Here’s hoping that 2021 will bring success to all your ideas and projects, good health to you and your family, and continuing happiness.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Fulldome.pro team around the world.
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Projection Dome Screens

The first optical planetarium, built in 1923 by the Zeiss company in Jena, Germany, projected onto the white plaster lining of a 16-meter diameter hemispherical concrete dome. Solid domes such as this and the many fiberglass and glass reinforced plastic domes that followed, reflect sound as well as light, detracting from the viewing experience. Most large planetarium screens are now made of perforated aluminum panels fixed to a support in frame. The thousands of tiny perforations in the screen reduce acoustic reflection and actually allow speakers to be placed behind the screen so that sound can appear to come from the appropriate direction for the video. The perforations also allow for the flow of air through the screen for climate control, preventing the build-up of moisture on the surface, which was also a problem with solid screens. However, aluminum screens are expensive and although they can be built to very large diameters, require a complex supporting frame structure.

Inflatable domes, where the air pressure inside the dome is increased to hold the screen up offer portability but, when used outdoors are prone to movement in windy conditions.

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Negative-pressure domes

In recent times negative-pressure domes have bridged the gap between rigid aluminium screens and inflatable domes and can be used for both permanent and temporary, portable installations. Usually a negative-pressure dome consists of four parts: a rigid geodesic frame, an outer cover, the screen, the fan. Geodesic domes are structurally rigid and distribute the structural stress throughout the structure. Therefore, a very lightweight frame can span a large diameter, making large portable domes possible. The outer cover is stretched over the dome frame and connected to the base. Usually the cover is made from blackout fabric and for outdoor use PVC fabric may be used.

The screen is made from lightweight blackout fabric (usually polyester) and is slightly smaller than the dome frame. There may be a black border area around perimeter of the screen where it attaches to the inside of the dome frame. Usually there are also straps connecting the screen to the frame at several points, so that it will not fall on the audience or the ground when the fan is off. Larger domes may use more than one fan.

The fan is connected to the outer cover of the dome either directly or via a duct. The type of fan used is designed to operate at high volume and relatively low pressure while remaining quiet. Attenuators can be added to the fan to make it even quieter and by using ducts the fan can be located away from the dome and the audience inside it.

Negative-pressure domes come in two main styles

  1. Enclosed domes can be used indoors or outdoors as the structure is free-standing and the cover goes all the way to ground level, forming walls. These domes are used for temporary events, expos, and festivals but can also be built as permanent, stand-alone, outdoor domes.
  2. Open domes are hemispherical without walls. They are for indoor use and can be supported on columns, wall brackets, or suspended inside a building. Open domes can replace, aging aluminum screens, be fitted inside an existing solid dome, or installed in new facilities.

Before Fulldome.pro revolutionized dome projection there wasn’t much call for high quality portable dome screens. The only portable dome projection was via low-resolution, single-projector systems in inflatable domes. When Fulldome.pro introduced high-resolution, multi-projector systems with fast and automatic calibration we realised we also needed to create portable dome screens that could make the most of this technology. Inflatable domes were not up to the task, solid domes are too heavy and laborious to be easily portable and perforated aluminum is expensive and only suited to fixed installations. So, we set about making something as portable as an inflatable dome, with the projection quality of an aluminum screen. Our purpose-built geodesic domes and fabric screens soon became the envy of the dome projection world. Our engineering and sewing teams have continued to innovate, making our domes even easier to assemble and selecting new fabrics for even better projection.

When designing a new dome, we carefully select the screen fabric and choose material with the right gain to match the projection system, resulting in a bright, high-contrast image. Our sewing team stitch panels together to form a perfect hemisphere with as few seams as possible. In fact, a fabric screen usually has fewer seams than a perforated aluminum screen of the same size.
When it comes to cleaning, a fabric screen can be removed and washed or replaced in a matter of hours, while an aluminum screen will require the dome to be closed for several days or even weeks.

Comparison of projection dome screen technologies

Solid Inflatable Perforated Aluminium Negative-pressure
• Inexpensive for small domes • Low cost
• Very quick to install
• Portable 		• High quality
• Good acoustics 		• Inexpensive
• Lightweight
• Fast to install
• Portable or permanent
• Good acoustics
• Easily replaced
• Heavy
• Poor acoustic properties
• Prone to growing fungus and mould due to moisture 		• Unsuitable for use outdoors in windy conditions
• Will collapse on audience if fan fails 		• Expensive
• Difficult to install
• Difficult to clean 		• Screen needs to be looked after in extreme weather to prevent moisture build up
• Fan consumes a small amount of electricty

Frameless Negative-pressure Screens

The latest innovation from Fulldome.pro is a frameless negative-pressure screen. Instead of building a frame to support the cover and create a negative-pressure envelope for the screen the cover is suspended inside the room or building and stretched outwards towards the walls and ceiling. The screen is attached around the perimeter of the cover and has some support straps connecting it to the cover. A fan is used to create negative-pressure and the screen is pushed upwards and outwards towards the cover. In some circumstances, where the room or building is well sealed it may even be possible to eliminate the outer cover and just use the building itself to create the negative-pressure envelope.

Frameless negative-pressure screens can be made in different shapes such as an elongated ‘pill’ shape, or an open-ended dome or a tunnel.

What is Negative-pressure?

When we talk about air pressure, we usually mean positive pressure. Inflating a car tire, pumping up a basketball, and blowing up a balloon are all examples of positive air pressure – that is the air pressure inside the vessel is higher than the surrounding atmosphere.

Negative-pressure is where the air pressure in a space is lower than the surrounding atmosphere – a vacuum (or partial vacuum). One place we hear about negative-pressure is hospitals, where negative-pressure rooms are used to prevent the spread of disease. An infected person is placed in isolation in a room and the HVAC system is set up so that slightly more air is sucked out of the room than is blown in. When a door is opened for a doctor to enter, air rushes into the room to equalize the pressure, preventing possibly infected air from leaving the room. The HVAC system filters, cleans, and disinfects the air that is extracted from the room.

For a negative-pressure dome, a fan runs continuously to evacuate air from behind the screen, creating an area of low pressure. The higher air pressure inside the dome pushes the screen up towards the dome frame. The pressure required to hold a negative-pressure screen up is very low. At just 200 pascals it is less than 1 percent of atmospheric pressure, one thirtieth of the air pressure inside a party balloon, hundreds of times less than in a basketball, and thousands of ties less than the pressure of a car tire.

Frameless Negative-pressure Screens

Pascals Pounds per square inch Atmospheres
Atmospheric pressure1 101,325 Pa 14.7 psi 1 atm
Car tire 227,500 - 262,000 Pa 32 – 38 psi 2.2 – 2.6 atm
Basketball 51,700 – 58,600 Pa 7.5 – 8.5 psi 0.5 - 0.6 atm
Balloon 6900 Pa 1 psi 0.07 atm
Dome - 200 Pa - 0.03 psi - 0.002 atm

¹ Atmospheric pressure is measured in absolute terms, whereas the other pressures are relative to atmospheric pressure. Therefore the absolute pressure in a car tire is around 350,000 Pa/50 psi/3.5 atm (relative pressure of car tire, plus absolute atmospheric pressure)

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Brighten up your event with a unique projection dome

Take advantage of our special offer!

Try a high-tech, modern, shared VR experience to entertain your guests. Digital projection dome and a set of 360 immersive shows for your party or corporate event.

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We provide one of our best sellers, the 3-meter diameter dome for, small intimate events, or a 7-meter diameter dome for large gatherings. Special limited-time offer for events up to 3 days – all inclusive.

3-meter
Projection Dome

Up to 5 people
$ 8,000
Up to 3 Days Event
  • Geodesic Dome
  • Projection Equipment
  • AV equipment
  • 40+ dome shows
  • Shipping
  • Installation Video Manual
  • Online Support
SEND A REQUEST

7-meter
Projection Dome

Up to 15 people
$ 16,000
Up to 3 Days Event
  • Geodesic Dome
  • Projection Equipment
  • AV equipment
  • 40+ dome shows
  • Shipping
  • Installation Video Manual
  • Online Support
SEND A REQUEST
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Choosing the right screen type for your dome theater

Domes are a great way to bring immersive entertainment to groups of people. From traditional planetariums to the latest high-tech rides, domes put the audience at the centre of the picture. But choosing the right type of screen depends on many factors.

The Ideal Screen

There is no single, ideal screen type, but by considering the type of content to be shown in the dome, the space available to fit the dome into, the budget, and the audience, it is possible to determine the ideal screen for the proposed project

Firstly let’s consider the different screen types.

Tilted Screen

Tilted screens are suitable for both planetariums and entertainment. For planetarium shows the whole screen is visible without needing to recline or bend the neck back too far.

For entertainment the main point of interest is directly in front of viewer. In permanent installations seats can be installed in tiers, for uninterrupted views from any seat, while in mobile domes this can be achieved by using a combination of cushions or beanbags at the front, chairs across the middle of the dome and standing area at the rear. This makes tilted domes ideal for cinematic experiences. However, as the front of the screen close to the floor, particularly in portable domes, visitors entering or exiting the dome during screening cast shadows onto the screen, which is annoying to other patrons.

This makes portable tilted domes unsuitable for galleries, art installations and in-dome events.

Learn more:
Pros & Cons
  • Suitable for small and large domes
  • Ideal for a cinematic experience
  • Less height clearance than a horizontal dome of the same size
  • Not suitable for in-dome events
How to Use It
  • Mobile or fixed planetariums
  • 360 educational and entertainment content
  • Dome attractions

Horizontal Screen

Horizontal screens are situated around 2.2 meters (a little over 7 feet) from floor or ground level allowing the audience to move around inside the dome without interfering with the projection. Ideal for immersive art installations at galleries and festivals, horizontal domes can also host events, dining, corporate presentations or even parties and dance events.

Planetariums often use horizontal screens with omni-directional seating or directional, tiered seating, but this requires seats that recline to allow a full view of the screen. Portable horizontal screen domes start from 10 metres (33 feet) and are very popular at festivals where the audience can wander in and out as they please, recline on bean bags or lie back on floor mats to enjoy the immersive experience from the full dome screen above them.

Learn more:
Pros & Cons
  • Permits free movement inside the dome
  • Perfect for in-dome events
  • Fully reclining seats are more expensive
    and may reduce seating capacity
  • Not suitable for portable domes
    less than 10 meters (33 feet)
How to Use It
  • Mobile or fixed planetariums
  • Business events and corporate presentations
  • Live performances and dance events
  • Dining experiences

Floor-To-Floor Screen

Horizontal screens are situated around 2.2 meters (a little over 7 feet) from floor All domes allow immersive entertainment for groups, but the floor-to-floor screen takes it to the next level – shared VR. Fulldome.pro pioneered the new product, with a screen that extends beyond the ceiling, onto the walls, and (almost) down to the floor. This screen is a unique piece of technology that helps to create truly immersive in-dome experiences.

Projection in this type of dome is a bit more complicated than other domes and projecting almost to the floor means that viewing capacity is reduced by around 30%. The projection area also includes the doorways, so people cannot enter and exit the dome during a show without interrupting the projection. The VR Dome, as it is sometimes called, is only practical in domes of 7 meters (23 feet) or larger.or ground level allowing the audience to move around inside the dome without interfering with the projection. Ideal for immersive art installations at galleries and festivals, horizontal domes can also host events, dining, corporate presentations or even parties and dance events.

Planetariums often use horizontal screens with omni-directional seating or directional, tiered seating, but this requires seats that recline to allow a full view of the screen. Portable horizontal screen domes start from 10 metres (33 feet) and are very popular at festivals where the audience can wander in and out as they please, recline on bean bags or lie back on floor mats to enjoy the immersive experience from the full dome screen above them.

Learn more:
Pros & Cons
  • Offers the most immersive experience
  • A more affordable alternative to a projection sphere
  • Reduced dome capacity
  • More complicated projection setup
How to Use It
  • Immersive presentations
  • Rides and attractions
  • 360 dome experience

Vertical Screen

The vertical dome is becoming popular as a ‘flying theater’ for amusement parks and attractions. After being secured their seats, usually arranged in groups on multiple levels, the audience is moved forward, into the dome, with feet hanging freely for a full-motion, full-immersion ride.

Mounting a dome vertically involves additional engineering to support and distribute the weight of the dome structure.

Learn more:
Pros & Cons
  • An indoor, roller coaster experience that can operate, year-round, regardless of weather
  • A single dome can offer multiple rides for different audiences
  • Complex engineering
  • Takes time to load and unload the audience
How to Use It
  • Flying theaters
  • Simulators

Spherical screen

If bringing the screen right down to floor is not immersive enough how about removing the floor and putting the viewer at the center of a giant sphere!

A sphere with a horizontal walkway running across the center and the whole inner surface, except the portals through which the audience enter and exit, as the projection screen.
Pros & Cons
  • WOW factor!
  • An amazing immersive experience
  • Small audience capacity for dome size
  • Complex engineering and projection
How to Use It
  • The culminating experience of a larger interactive and immersive attraction
  • Premium flying theater

The next step

With an understanding of these screen types and the differences between them it is possible to work out which one suits your project. Even still there are many more options to consider from projection, to sound, to facility design. Our team has many years of experience designing and manufacturing domes and projections systems, installation, project management, and support.

Contact Fulldome.pro to see how we can help bring your dome project to reality.

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Message from Fulldome.pro on coronavirus COVID-19

Dear Fulldome.pro partners, customers, and friends,
Here at Fulldome.pro we are following the recommendations of the World Health Organization and local authorities in the countries our offices are located in to slow down the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, most of our office staff will be working from home until at least April 12. All Fulldome.pro team members are available via email, phone, and other messaging services during normal working hours. We would like to reassure all our customers that there are no interruptions to our services and production.

Our factories, logistics and IT will be working shifts to maintain social distancing, so they can continue to work on current projects. We have implemented preventative measures, such as: disposable mask and glove usage; full cleaning and sanitizing after each working day; and temperature checks and sanitizers at entrances.

Working remotely is a challenge for our teams but we will be back with more game-changing products and services. Our efforts to create more affordable and user-friendly dome projection systems will be redoubled. We will keep you updated on special offers and other initiatives in our next emails.

Going through this unprecedented and challenging time we, more than ever, need to work together as one, support and look after each other. Moreover, we need to reach out to let each other know how much we rely on our community. We, at Fulldome.pro, are grateful to you for your support over all these years and particularly through these trying times.

We are looking forward to more wonderful immersive hi-tech projects for all of us in the future. Stay safe and healthy and take care of yourselves and your loved ones.

The Fulldome.pro International Team.