Swedish planetarium goes digital with imaging from Antycip Simulation, Mersive, and projectiondesign
Five of projectiondesign’s® latest F22 1080 DLP® projectors have been installed as part of a major technical upgrade of the planetarium at Umevatoriet, a public-facing science centre attached to the University of Umeå in Sweden.
Supplied as part of a package with HP image-generating servers by distributor Pedensia and integrated by Antycip Simulation, a subsidiary of ST Electronics (Training & Simulation Systems) Pte Ltd, the projectors have enabled Umevatoriet to become a more immersive planetarium experience, and to produce ‘full-dome’ shows for the first time.
Malin Hallbeck, Account Manager, Sweden at Antycip Simulation, says: “Umevatoriet opened in 2006 as a ‘space-themed’ meeting point for the university, schools, local companies, organizations and the general public. The idea was to raise interest levels in science and technology among people of all ages, playing on man’s natural fascination for outer space as the starting point.
“The planetarium seats 27 people in two rows of seats under a 5-metre diameter hard curved dome screen. It has been popular from the start, and this year the university asked Antycip Simulation to completely overhaul the audio visual systems so that they could broaden the range of content on offer, as well as raise the quality of the images.”
The latest in projectiondesign’s ‘new platform’ DLP projectors, the compact and powerful F22 1080 offers all the qualities for which the Norwegian manufacturer is renowned, including superb colour reproduction, 1080p resolution, a full 24/7 operation warranty, high-precision lenses, and unique colour matching and calibration capabilities, all at an affordable price point. Because of its small size, the F22 1080 is ideal for installations where space is a premium.
At Umevatoriet, Antycip Simulation deployed Mersive SOL® software to handle the edge-blending, image warping and auto calibration of multiple projected images.
“The Mersive SOL® software enables the automatic calibration of the F22 1080 projectors, thus significantly reducing the time to install while increasing the stability of the display, ” explains Randall Stevens, CEO at Mersive. “Calibration which has traditionally taken hours and even days to achieve has been reduced to a few minutes, such that installation and maintenance costs are greatly reduced.”
To enhance Umevatoriet’s content-generation capabilities, Antycip Simulation has installed Uniview Theater and Uniview Producer software from Sweden’s SCISS AB, a specialist provider of visualisation tools for planetariums. Developed in close collaboration with Linköping University and the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Uniview software acts as an online data browser for global satellite imagery, while at the same time providing the wider context of the universe in breathtaking 3D imagery.
“The combination of projectiondesign projectors and Mersive software products is a fantastic offering to the market. Our new system has been enthusiastically received by the management at Umevatoriet, and they are confident that it will raise the facility’s profile even further, ” concludes Malin Hallbeck at Antycip Simulation. “The projectiondesign F22 1080s, allied with the right imaging and database software tools, have really allowed this unique space to take a quantum leap forward in terms of audience interaction and engagement.”
Sondre Fauskanger, product and application manager for visualization and simulation at projectiondesign, concludes: “The Umevatoriet shows that our F22 1080 projectors can be used to give the end user a compelling immersive video experience. With its intimate feel and very broad range of appealing content, this installation offers a new blueprint for compact planetarium design, and we are delighted to play such an important role in bringing it up to the latest imaging standards.”
Antycip Simulation, a subsidiary of ST Electronics (Training & Simulation Systems) Pte Ltd., is the European leader in the distribution of virtual reality software tools and integration of innovative projection solutions. The company also provides a wide range of simulation and training software tools and engineering services. With over 10 years of presence in virtual reality, visualisation, simulation and training, Antycip Simulation has regional offices in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Spain. Please visit www.antycipsimulation.com.
ST Electronics (Training & Simulation Systems), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited, develops, manufactures and markets advanced computer graphic software and solutions for simulation, animation, games and edutainment applications. It applies leading edge technologies and design methodologies to meet the stringent requirements of customised electronics systems and solutions. For more information, please visit www.stee.stengg.com.
About Mersive
Mersive is a graphics middleware software company that enables the creation of large seamless displays with resolutions exceeding high-definition. As a leader in visual technology, Mersive™ software simplifies the way high-resolution displays are designed, configured, and maintained to provide a cost-effective, true auto-alignment solution capable of merging any number of projectors into a seamless display of almost any size, shape, and resolution. Technology once considered practical only for select capital-rich industries is now made available by Mersive for a range of applications from simulation and training to museum displays and digital signage. Mersive clients include a number of corporate, government, and academic organizations. Please visit www.mersive.com.
About projectiondesign
Projectiondesign is a Norwegian company that designs, manufactures and markets a range of high performance projectors for professional, business and consumer applications. Amongst its core markets are high resolution scientific visualization and simulation, medical imaging, e-cinema and public displays. Numerous industry milestones that distinguish projectiondesigns award winning, innovative technology include the introduction of the world’s first single-chip SXGA DLP projector in 2002, the first commercially available 1080p DLP projector in 2006 and the first WUXGA DLP projector and the first portable and high-resolution active 3D stereoscopic projector in 2008. In 2009, projectiondesign made its first foray into LED illumination. The entire professional product range is warranted for 24/7 usage. projectiondesign is based in Fredrikstad (Norway), and has offices in Gothenburg, Singapore, Milan, Stuttgart, Bilbao, Bombay, Cape Town, London and has representation in New York.
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