Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 13, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
At this year’s IBC, the Fraunhofer institutes FIRST and IDMT are presenting the “Immersive Dome” for the first time. In it, the conventional flat cinema screen is replaced by a dome projection that completely surrounds viewers visually. Instead of conventional surround sound, visitors experience three-dimensional audio.
In the dome cinema of tomorrow, visitors are intended to experience entirely new visual and acoustic impressions. The researchers describe the effect of the technology by comparing it with a lava lamp in which the viewer is sitting - surrounded by larger-than-life liquid sculptures and in complete weightlessness, while spherical sounds matching the amorphous forms can be heard and adapt to the sculptures’ spatial movements.
What sounds abstract is intended to become tangible at IBC in Amsterdam from September 11 to 15, 2009 at the joint Fraunhofer stand C81 in Hall 8. There, Fraunhofer FIRST’s digital dome projection will be combined for the first time with Fraunhofer IDMT’s “Spatial Pan” spatial-sound system. Another special feature: viewers can actively help shape the content. A camera films your face, and the image is projected live onto the dome screen. With a 3D mouse, you can move the projection across the screen and thereby interactively alter the image and associated sound.
The full-dome video “Liquidia” shown in the “Immersive Dome” was produced by Ralph Heinsohn of animation studio Tilt and sound designer Sven Lütgen on behalf of the two Fraunhofer institutes. The film demonstrates how high-resolution digital and interactive dome projection can be combined with three-dimensional sound.
In the “Immersive Dome,” six projectors generate five partial images on the inner sides and one image at the zenith of the hemisphere. Fraunhofer FIRST’s Screen Player software controls the projector cluster and generates a seamless, color-uniform overall image. The software can display cluster projections at a resolution of 4K x 4K and above in real time. To achieve this, the shape of the screen is first reproduced virtually. The projectors’ image is aligned with it and distorted appropriately. At the same time, the projected images are captured with three digital cameras and joined together with pixel-level precision and color homogeneity using image-recognition and color-correction algorithms. Screen Player has a preview function that shows the content in the screen geometry in advance. Conversion of the original content to the screen geometry takes place directly during real-time playback.
Screen Player has standard interfaces to other multimedia systems, allowing additional devices to be integrated easily - including Fraunhofer IDMT’s “Spatial Pan” sound system. Unlike other three-dimensional audio-reproduction systems that use many loudspeakers to create a natural and spatial sound impression, the “Spatial Pan” spatial-sound system operates with a reduced number of loudspeakers. The Immersive Dome uses eight standard loudspeakers that can depict a realistic, spatial sound scenario even without a closed wave field. Additional acoustic excitation of the dome creates a third sound dimension, entirely without additional dome loudspeakers. This also allows a three-dimensional sound impression to be created for non-perforated domes.
Fraunhofer says that, in addition to planetariums and cinemas, the “Immersive Dome” can also be used in theme parks, simulators, multimedia installations and the high-end home-cinema sector.
