Digitally projected full dome theaters are a new form of immersive presentation for large audiences. There are more than 100 of these theaters worldwide, and many are domed planetariums that have been retrofitted w/ high resolution video projectors that use a single fisheye projection lens or "stitch" multiple projections together into one large surround image.

The image above is of a presentation by xRez member Greg Downing at the Gates Planetarium in Denver, Colorado. This theater uses 11 cinema quality video projectors seamlessly merged into one high resolution surround image. The content is then interactively rendered on an 11-node supercomputer to deliver over 8 million viewable pixels to the screen. Because the moving image completely surrounds the audience it conveys an unusually strong sense of "being there".

The surround media that xRez captures and produces is ideally suited for this type of display. It is easier to compose a dome image in post using 3D cameras in animation software than composing the image in live production using a traditional motion picture camera with a fisheye lens. 3D cameras can simulate how the image will project in theaters making it easier to adjust for different dome tilts.

Some dome theater audiences prefer real-world content over something that is clearly 3D rendered. Using high resolution panoramic imagery integrated into 3D software allows us to take advantage of it's flexibility while presenting real-world imagery.