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The Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s William Day Planetarium (built in 1967) has been reborn as a 35 seat Immersive Vision Theatre (IVT).

Following a £200k technical overhaul, made available through Â鶹´«Ã½ UKRI World Class Laboratories (WCL) award and working with , the IVT is a ‘Fulldome’ architecture that houses 2 Satellite Modular Laser System (Remote Light Engine) projectors, each fitted with a ‘fisheye‘ lens and 10.1 audio system.

Customised powerful computers wrap data, models, video and images around the inner surface of the dome to create shared immersive experiences.

The IVT is used for a range of learning, entertainment and research activities, including transdisciplinary teaching, bleeding edge research in modelling and data visualisation.

Fulldome is the term used to describe domed projection environments, traditionally found in planetariums. Fulldomes are not panoramas, CAVEs or Oculus Rifts (although many of the underlying technologies are the same), they provide a unique and highly immersive shared audience experience using single fisheye or multi projector systems.

The Fulldome is emerging from its planetarium shaped incubator into a brave new world of digital projectors, real-time visualisation software, independent content producers and transdisciplinary collaborations. As these technologies and practices evolve you are just as likely to find a VJ in a dome as you are an astronomer.

The new system and configuration of our theatre compliment the design of and offers increased compatibility for production workflows, experimentation and training.

We can fly you to the edge of the observable Universe, through microscopic architectures and nano-landscapes, or immerse you in interactive data-scapes and simulations. We deliver shows for for schools, colleges and community groups and can tailor content to specific learning and curricula requirements.

For future bookings and project queries please contact: ivt@plymouth.ac.uk