One of Highest Attended Planetariums in Europe Upgrades with Global Immersion Blooloop

High Fidelity Solution Optimized and Integrated into Futuroscope Fulldome Theater

Immersive theater specialist organization, Global Immersion, has supplied a Fidelity Bright™ digital fulldome solution to Destination Cosmos at the Futuroscope theme park in Poitiers, France.

The planetarium re-opened on Saturday 7th February 2009 following the integration of six projectiondesignÆ graded, matched and optimized projector units – the result of a unique process facilitated by Global Immersion following years of experience and co-development with the Norwegian projector manufacturer.

Parc du Futuroscope is situated two-hundred miles south of Paris in the department of Vienne and is the second largest theme park in France. Since opening in 1987, the site has attracted more than 35 million visitors with its innovative application of multimedia, cinematographic and audio-visual technologies. In 2002, Destination Cosmos opened alongside the twenty-one existing pavilions in the park, housing a fulldome theater and an interactive pre-show area to engage visitors of all ages with astronomy and Space science.

Destination Cosmos has become one of the highest attended Planetariums in Europe since its launch, with approximately 800, 000 visitors walking through its doors each year. The 21-meter tilted dome theater has been screening a French-dubbed version of AMNH’s fulldome productions ‘Search for Life’ to an audience of up to 350 people at a time.

Bright, Sharp and Colorful Digital Fulldome Projection

Global Immersion was contracted to upgrade the existing system with a six-channel Fidelity Bright™ solution including a full content management and storage system.

The projection system utilizes six projectiondesign F32 series high-performance DLP™ projectors with SXGA+ resolution. As with each Global Immersion installation that integrates projectiondesign, the technical team at Global Immersion engineered off-the-shelf units using a unique, meticulous and extensive process. This valuable partnership ensures optimization and matching of the projectors; crucial for an even and consistent multi-channel display.

“projectiondesign has worked with Global Immersion since its inception in 2007 and their work can be found in many of the world’s leading immersive theaters and venues wowing audiences across the world, ” says Chris Axford, International Sales & Marketing Director at projectiondesign. “Key to the success of every installation is the ability of our projectors to be calibrated for their specific application and each projector undergoes a
stringent testing and matching process before being shipped for installation.”

Futuroscope’s turn-key Fidelity™ system includes a custom Fidelity™ Media Server cluster – Global Immersion’s high-resolution, uncompressed fulldome server solution. This open-architecture setup will be used to present AMNH’s latest production, ‘Cosmic Collisions’, maximizing the effect of the show’s intense graphics and providing a superior audience experience.

Yannis Marchet, Technical Manager at Parc du Futuroscope commented “Global Immersion’s Engineers performed the upgrade in just three weeks – providing us with an innovative solution that was completed on time and within budget. We were confident from the outset that they would deliver a superior solution based upon their expertise and unique relationship with projectiondesign, and are delighted with the results of our new theater.”

The new Fidelity Bright™ fulldome solution will give visitors an exceptionally bright, resolute and colorful immersive experience. The upgraded Planetarium will be added to the list of some of the World’s flagship Fidelity™ theaters from Global Immersion including the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences, Cosmonova at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the Gates Planetarium at Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

About Global Immersion

Global Immersion is an award-winning organization, dedicated to the unique and innovative medium of immersive theater. With over ten years experience in the world of fulldome displays and scientific data visualization, Global Immersion combines a broad range of proven technologies to create enthralling and exciting immersive theater. As a full-service team, they pull together exceptional theater design, advanced projection technologies, content production, user-friendly controls and advanced audio & lighting – all on a digital infrastructure.