When entering the Future Dome, a time travel host offers visitors several choices to influence the future of the planet, based on their personal interactions with a 360-degree film, presented on the dome. Atmospheric music, lighting and ambience deliver an experience that is tense, thrilling and thought provoking. Visitors traveling forward in time, are then immersed in a potential future based upon their previous choices. The full experience utilizes specialized interactive voting which is built into 75 sensory seats set on 3 rotating platforms and full dome visual projection from a multi-channel set-up of 6 Barco SIM 5plus projectors.
Benoit Cornet, CEO of Alterface, says :"Visitors to the FutureDome are totally immersed in the planet's futuristic theme (climate, population, environment, biology, etc.) The omnipresent interactivity places the visitors, both individually and collectively, directly at the controls of a spectacle which is so gripping, that it will not be forgotten: massive interactions, strong and effective visuals created with cutting edge equipment, a sound track adaptable to each group (language, level of complexity, etc.), professional special effects (the visitors on turntables, lighting, smoke. etc.), scientific facts stressed by engaging narration, both original and funny. The show evolves in real time according to the audience's preferences: the visitors will see the results of their selections immediately."
Chief executive at Dynamic Earth, John Simpson, says: "This is our most ambitious and exciting visitor development since we first opened. The planned gallery, which we are calling FutureDome, is a world first and we were happy to develop plans with Barco as leading experts in dome projection and interactive visitor experiences." He added: "This is a further vote of confidence in the story that we tell here at Dynamic Earth and allows visitors to really probe the future for the planet and how they can all individually influence that future. The new experience explores themes of climate change and the natural forces that ultimately shape this truly dynamic place, which we all inhabit. We can now complete our story by traveling forward in time to see just what that future might be."
Director at Barco, Eric Braux says: "The FutureDome experience results from a successful combination of the talent and passion from the scientific experts of Our Dynamic Earth, the software enabling tools and creativity of Alterface and Barco's digital display technology facilitated through the project management of Barco's integration team. By turning an exciting scenario into a dynamic live experience, Our Dynamic Future will contribute to a better public understanding of scientific research and its impact on our lives today and tomorrow, which is one of the main challenges for science centres."
Funding for Our Dynamic Future is part of a £740,000 grant from the fourth round of the Millennium Commission's ReDiscover Renewal Fund. Barco and Alterface combined efforts and began work in July 2005 to develop the immersive, interactive learning system.
(Chris Henry)
