The Elumenati, a designer of innovative solutions for immersive and interactive experiences, has provided its WorldViewer content engine to the Indianapolis Zoo’s Global Center for Species Survival, where it is powering a network of Elumenati displays as part of a new welcome experience for over a million annual visitors.
The Global Center for Species Survival at Indianapolis Zoo is a partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission. The showpiece of this new welcome experience is Our Living Planet, an immersive biodiversity experience located within the venue’s Schaefer Rotunda.
Our Living Planet
For Our Living Planet, The Elumenati designed and delivered a 10 m diameter perforated aluminium screen suspended beneath the dome of the rotunda. The screen is truncated with a black scrim at the apex rather than a conventional planetarium hemisphere. This significantly reduces the complexity of the combined solution and lowers the price.
The company created a four-channel solution using Barco F80 projectors, never blending more than two projectors at once. As a result, the final image has a 1.65 arcmin resolution and around 45,000 lumens overall. The team wanted to keep the technology hidden to allow viewers to fully engage with the 360° material.
In addition, The Elumenati provided a completely adjustable cove lighting system. The projectors, audio, cove lighting, and even a preview display in the foyer are all controlled via WorldViewer, which has a straightforward user interface on a wireless tablet. The company also developed a significant amount of content for the exhibit with 360° video of animals, fungi, and plants, in collaboration with the Global Centre team and utilising its relationship with Medium Labs.
“When we learned about Elumenati’s ability to distribute content across flat screens in multiple locations, we were able to adapt our approach to the entire experience that people have as they come through the zoo,” says Bill Street, senior vice president of the Indianapolis Zoo and director of the Global Center.
Custom content
As well as the dome, The Elumenati also provided a number of flat-screen LCD arrays powered by WorldViewer. Visitors experience looping photographs by renowned photographer Joel Sartore, alongside videos highlighting conservation activities, social media-style postings with QR codes they can use to learn more, and a dynamic preview of Our Living Planet content as they travel about the area. Zoo employees can easily update these monitors with the latest conservation news using WorldViewer.
Through a straightforward HTML interface on the tablet, zoo employees can easily administer all five systems. This interface drives each system separately using non-proprietary commands across the network. All the displays run on a single rack, featuring five custom-built, high-performance image generators, all running WorldViewer. This allows for cost savings by doing away with the need for additional show control hardware.
Along with design, setup, and continuing maintenance, The Elumenati closely collaborated with the zoo to create the content and show control system. The team filmed certain species at the zoo in situ, in cooperation with Medium Labs, and obtained other content from a network of creators across the world.
In order for the zoo to display everything from night sky astronomical photos to photo slide shows and custom guest videos, the firm also supplied a WorldViewer composition that acts as a template for special occasions. The zoo team just saves media to the server using WorldViewer’s folder loading capability, and it immediately provides a themed experience.
“The benefit of the Elumenati system is that it’s ever-evolving and flexible – for special events like weddings or parties, or seasonal changes like showing spooky species at Halloween. WorldViewer just makes it really quick and simple,” says Kelly Griese, public relations specialist for the Global Center.
The Indianapolis Zoo’s Global Center for Species Survival supports and connects thousands of conservation experts working to secure a future for animals, fungi and plants in more than 160 countries.
“It’s our honor to support the Global Center’s mission by helping to create an inspiring immersive experience for the Zoo’s guests,” says Hilary McVicker, vp, sales and marketing at The Elumenati.
The Elumenati builds domes, globes, and social, collaborative XR spaces for clients across the entertainment, education and enterprise sectors.
