Cosm, a global technology company that builds end-to-end solutions for immersive experiences, has revealed details of the latest version of the leading immersive planetarium software, Digistar 2025. The software will be available at the end of the year.
The new release was announced on 23 July at the International Planetarium Society (IPS) 2024 Conference. This event is the biggest in-person gathering of planetarium specialists in the world and is being held in Berlin, Germany, where planetariums were invented a century ago.
Advances in STEAM education
Digistar takes science education to a new level by fusing a comprehensive STEAM curriculum with immersive planetarium technology. The software offers user-friendly production tools, robust system controls, an immersive content ecosystem, and intuitive scientific data visualisation, and is spearheading the next wave of immersive educational experiences.
This software raises the benchmark for experience science and education by combining immersive planetarium technology with comprehensive STEAM instruction. Digistar offers user-friendly production tools, robust system controls, an immersive content ecosystem, and intuitive scientific data visualisations which enable planetariums to go beyond conventional boundaries and explore advances in science, art, entertainment, and more.
Working with the global Digistar community to broaden the scope of what can be achieved in planetariums, Cosm demonstrated several of Digistar 2025’s new features and outlined key opportunities that can be accessed using the new version. The announcement emphasises customer success and signals Digistar’s shift to a yearly release cycle, ensuring clients always have the most up-to-date tools available to them.
In addition, Cosm’s recently released Premium Media Program offers planetariums using Digistar access to a growing collection of over 45 immersive films, including exclusive Cosm Studios content. The program is both flexible and affordable.
The Program allows participants to choose four or more films from the Premium Media Library, as well as a Cosm Studios original piece. They then have the option to swap them for different titles each year, giving them more flexibility to meet their missions and grow their audience through fresh and dynamic programming.
Kirk Johnson, chief operations officer at Cosm, says: “Since Digistar’s inception in 1981 as the world’s first digital 3D planetarium, our world-class engineering team has put forth consistent development and innovation, which has led to Digistar earning its place as the immersive instrument of choice for more than 700 planetariums around the world.
“With decades of experience in powering prestigious planetariums and science centers across the globe, Cosm is proud to usher in a bright new era of planetariums through both Digistar 2025 and our LED CX System solution, powering the next generation of immersive experience in science, education, and beyond.”
Powering planetariums worldwide
Digistar now plays an integral part in Cosm’s end-to-end shared reality solution, the CX System. CX System, Cosm’s premium LED dome solution, features an ever-expanding immersive content ecosystem, cutting-edge LED dome display technology, and experiential production capabilities.
The CX System combines the physical and virtual worlds to power science and education experiences worldwide. These include Planetum, Europe’s first LED dome at Planetarium Prague; the world’s first LED dome housed in a museum at the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History; and the most technologically advanced planetarium in North America at the Arizona Science Center.
Furthermore, CX System powers Cosm’s immersive Shared Reality venues in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Park, Dallas’ Grandscape, and Atlanta’s Centennial Yards. Additional venues in key markets are set to be announced.
Cosm has created category-defining technology, an ecosystem of immersive media, and immersive entertainment solutions. These advancements seamlessly connect the physical and virtual realms, transporting audiences to any place, real or imagined, within a physical and social environment.
These innovations are driving and powering next-generation learning environments. Cosm, which powers more than 700 planetariums worldwide, is dedicated to providing audiences with cutting-edge immersive experiences and content.
Earlier this month, Cosm announced it is working with FOX Sports to broadcast the CONMEBOL Copa América 2024 third-place and final matches at its new experiential venue in Hollywood Park, Los Angeles.
