Fulldome.pro

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.

As the August sun set over the Hollywood Hills, trapeze artists swung above the guests at a private mansion perched at the top of a canyon, the 7 meter (23 foot) dome on the lawn came to life with lasers playing on its outer shell. High above the skyline of Los Angeles the 600 lucky party goers enjoyed a variety of food and treats in the mansion and stunning immersive visuals in the dome. A four projector system showed content at 3K resolution, opening eyes to the potential of 360 immersive environments, entertaining audiences and blowing minds.
Portable domes and projection systems from Fulldome.pro make dome cinema practical for short term events like parties. Our small team was able to quickly set up the dome on the afternoon before the party and pack up again the morning after.

The the inaugural Panorama festival kicked off in Randall’s Island Park in New York City in July 2016. The park is situated on the East River between Manhattan, The Bronx, and Queens – in the heart of the metropolis. Besides being a traditional festival to discover new music, Panorama is also a place to experience technology, art and innovation. Panorama is presented by Goldenvoice, the creators of the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals, and Fulldome.pro was there to help bring their vision to life.

The LAB was an Interactive experience, that combined technology, art and design, presented by The Verge and powered by HP and unique to Panorama. It was designed and curated by META.IS to bring experiential digital art to the heart of the festival. The entire façade of THE LAB was an ever-changing artwork created with high-definition projection mapping by Volvox Lab. Inside was the exhibition, with seven interactive installations by New York artists. But the focal point of THE LAB was a 21 meter (69 foot) dome, from Fulldome.pro, that operated as a fully immersive virtual reality theatre. The dome featured stunning visuals and audio which included “Cotton Candy Theremin” in which a traditional cotton candy machine is transformed into a musical instrument and visualizer, filling the dome with wonderful sounds, gorgeous video and a delicious aroma.

The inaugural PANORAMA festival kicked off in Randall’s Island Park in New York City in July 2016. The park is situated on the East River between Manhattan, The Bronx, and Queens – in the heart of the metropolis. Besides being a traditional festival to discover new music, PANORAMA is also a place to experience technology, art and innovation. PANORAMA is presented by Goldenvoice, the creators of the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals, and Fulldome.pro was there to help bring their vision to life.

“It was like being in virtual reality
…but in real life!” — Chloe (age 5)

“Lying there was the closest and most connected I have felt to a huge group of strangers in a long time, the most overwhelmed and awed I’ve been since I first saw a movie on IMAX.”

— Caitlin White, Brooklyn Magazine

The Idea

META.IS was tasked with creating an experience at PANORAMA that would be an immersive hub for festival-goers, a pop-up museum, and a playground of music and technology all at once in a single installation – THE LAB.

How It Began

As an experienced creator and provider of immersive dome environments, Fulldome.pro was approached by META.IS to bring their idea for the centerpiece of THE LAB to life.

— Illustration by Farley Katz

3D Model

The Execution

The Fulldome.pro team went to work designing a dome for META.IS to use in THE LAB. Our engineers, metal fabricators, fabric workers, and construction team all worked together to produce something truly amazing.

“The smartest thing you could do on Day 1 was get there (PANORAMA) early and start off at THE LAB.”

—Observer

The Reality

THE LAB was an interactive experience, that combined technology, art and design, presented by The Verge and powered by HP. The entire façade of THE LAB was an ever-changing artwork created with high-definition projection mapping. Inside was the exhibition, with seven interactive installations by New York artists. At the center of THE LAB was a 21 meter (69 foot) dome that operated as a fully immersive virtual reality theater. The dome featured stunning visuals and audio which included “Cotton Candy Theremin” in which a traditional cotton candy machine is transformed into a musical instrument and visualizer, filling the dome with wonderful sounds, gorgeous video and a delicious aroma.

Praise For THE LAB

“Digital Art for Jumping Into” —  Wall Street Journal

“The place felt like a playground for festival goers.” —  Bustle

“Even during performances by headlining music acts, the line into The Lab remained jammed.” —  J. Walter Thompson Intelligence

“…the perfect spot for your festival selfie.” —  Vogue

“…The Lab was a reminder that New York creatives have a strong hunger for innovation…” —  New York Observer

THE LAB In The Press

Digital Art for Jumping Into —  Wall Street Journal

Here’s a Sneak Peek of Panorama Festival’s Dazzling Visual Arts Hub — The Creator’s Project

Panorama’s The Lab is a high-tech art experience, with cotton candy too — Mashable

Introducing The Lab, our incredible technology and art exhibit at the Panorama festival —  The Verge

The Lab at Panorama —  J. Walter Thompson Intelligence

A 70-Foot VR Dome Stole The Show At Panorama NYC – Here’s The Guys That Built It — iDigital Times

The Fulldome.pro team set up a 10 meter (33 ft) dome for Maker Faire at Les Machines de l’île in Nantes, France in July 2016. A Maker Faire is a celebration of do-it-yourself culture that brings together art, technology and craft to produce an event that fits somewhere between Burning Man and Disneyland. We showed Samskara to an enthusiastic French audience for the first time and its creator, Android Jones, demonstrated some of the projects he is working on. Amidst all the hard work in putting on the show, for which we were awarded a blue ribbon as a ‘Maker of Merit’, the team had the opportunity to share with and enjoy the work of other Makers and the stream punk machines that included a giant elephant and mechanical spider.

Thank you to fellow maker Gilles Bonugli Kali for the wonderful photos and to the folks at PLAYA Provides for inviting us to be a part of this great event.

In June 2016, Fulldome.pro had five domes on display at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, California, surrounded by industry giants like Warner Bros. Entertainment, Ubisoft, and Alienware. It was our first trip to E3 and we were there to show how domes are the next step in the evolution of 360 and VR entertainment and gaming. Over 50,000 people attended the three-day expo which explains why there was always a queue to see what was going on inside the 12 meter dome and a constant stream of visitors popping their heads into 1.6 meter Nano Dome, designed for personal home gaming. Android Jones was on hand to support Samskara including an interactive version created for the HTC Vive. He also gave demonstrations of FlowMotion, a live painting tool he had been working on.

BlackBoxTV, makers of thriller, horror and sci-fi films for YouTube, provided some of their 360 content in dome format. They have been working with us to explore the immersive possibilities of dome projection.

We also featured Labyrinth from Free Range Games, the marriage of a collectible card game and a tactical turn-based role playing game, as just one example of how domes can be used to make gaming a more immersive experience.


blackboxtv.com
Facebook: BlackBoxTV

YouTube: BlackBoxTV

Following hot on the heels of its success in Madrid, Samskara has won another award! This time the venue was the historic Zeiss-Planetarium in Jena, Germany. The FullDome Festival jury gave a Special Award for Best Short Film to Samskara, the Android Jones collaboration with 360ART (formerly FullDomeLab).

The jury also gave Honorable Mentions for outstanding and innovative productions to both Art Universe (a collaboration with Likuid Art) and our experimental short, Chiang Mai Deep Trip. Congratulations to all those who worked on these projects – keep up the good work.

For more information about the award winning films from 360Art visit – 360art.pro/products

To find out about all the winners at the 10th Jena FullDome Festival go to – fulldome-festival.de/awards

Fulldome.pro attended the IPS Fulldome Festival in Brno, Czech Republic in June 2016. We were among 150 delegates who enjoyed 66 fulldome films over three days at the Brno Observatory and Planetarium. Four shows from our studio, 360ART were featured at the festival – Samskara, Art Universe, Dino Planet and Chiang Mai Deep Trip – along with Rosetta, from our friends at Fulldome Film Society. Our favorite (besides the aforementioned) was Flower Universe from Makoto Azuma. In Flower Universe brightly colored flowers are packed densely in arrangements not seen in nature, then filmed close-up at 4K, in scenes that resemble a low-level fly-over of a planetary or lunar craft, indeed some balls of flowers spin past the lens and into the distance much like a passing planet.

Also of note was The Man from the 9 Dimensions, created for the Miraikan Museum Of Emerging Science And Innovation in Japan, by renowned Japanese horror film director Takashi Shimizu (the Ju-On series, a.k.a The Grudge). This state-of-the- art film explains complex theoretical physics, like Superstring Theory, in a bold and captivating fulldome show.

It was a great festival of sharing the latest in fulldome with old and new friends and we look forward to doing it again.

The Android Jones collaboration with 360ART (formerly FullDomeLab) – Samskara was awarded Best Fulldome Short at the Madrid Immersive Festival in May 2016. This was only the second occasion Samskara had been shown in western Europe and the team at 360ART are very proud to be receive this award. In Samskara the work of acclaimed digital artist Android Jones, inspired by the ancient Sanskrit texts, or Vedas, has been given depth, and combined with sacred geometry, to create a kaleidoscope of imagery never seen before. The result is a stunning visual journey into the mind which has resonated with audiences, and festival juries, the world over.

For more information on Samskara visit – samskara.pro
Learn more about Android Jones here – androidjones.com
To find out about all the winners at the Madrid Festival go to – immersivefest.com

The organizers of TEDx Chiang Mai 2016 invited Fulldome.pro to participate in their inspiring event. We provided a 5 meter/16 foot diameter dome inside the venue which ran a livestream of talks in the main hall and displayed announcements of upcoming speakers in a presentation produced specifically for the event by the team at FullDomeLab. During breaks in the program this dome showed a range fulldome content and during the lunch break hosted a talk by renowned digital artist Android Jones, who introduced Samskara – his collaborative creation with 360Art.

On an outside balcony of the venue, we installed an 8 meter/26 foot closed dome that ran several fulldome films created by 360Art in Chiang Mai, including Chiang Mai Deep Trip, Gopal: Prince of the Cow’s Planet, DinoPlanet and the always popular Samskara. The outdoor location, in the hot Thailand sun, presented challenges for the team to keep the dome cool, but these challenges were met and the audience remained comfortable throught the day.

One of the biggest areas of interest at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada was 360, with several big name companies announcing new products. Ricoh showed the Theta S, the first truly 360° spherical camera that captures the entirety of a scene in a high-resolution photo or video, in a sleek, pocket-sized design. And what better way to showcase a revolutionary 360° camera, than in a revolutionary fulldome theater supplied by Fulldome.pro. The 7 meter/23 foot dome we installed at CES for Ricoh generated almost as much interest as the Theta S camera it was demonstrating with several other exhibitors wishing they had thought of using a dome to create an immersive group experience instead of using personal devices to show 360° content.

Mobile domes and the innovative, automatic projection calibration system from Fulldome.pro make setting up a fulldome theater fast and easy, meaning short-term installations for trade shows, exhibitions and festivals are now practical and cost effective. The Ricoh Theta S captures high-resolution spherical images of nearly 14 mega-pixels and records HD video at 30fps, with a maximum recording time of 25 minutes. Its high quality spherical images can be uploaded to theta360.com, shared via Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, and posted to Google Maps, Google+ and YouTube’s 360° Channel.

To find out more about the Ricoh Theta S check out theta360.com or look for ricoh.theta on Facebook.