VISITOR ATTRACTIONS
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systems. Immersive 360° films have since revolutionised planetarium experiences, offering interactive and engaging content – and today, video projection is used in most planetariums. ZEISS VS ZEISS Tim Florian Horn is the founding president of the Stiftung Planetarium Berlin (SPB), as well as the director of Zeiss-Großplanetarium and Archenhold- Sternwarte (Archenhold Observatory). The Archenhold-Sternwarte was first opened in 1896 as part of the World Fair, and later became the main focus for research on astronomy and history of astronomy. The first Zeiss-Planetarium, opened in 1926, was destroyed during and demolished after World War II, while the new Zeiss planetarium was built in West Berlin in 1965. But when Germany was divided, East Berlin built a second Planetarium because the company also split into two. The Zeiss-Großplanetarium was one of the last major buildings built in the German Democratic Republic, in 1987, the 750th anniversary of Berlin. “Both of the Zeiss companies built star projectors, so they were competing against each other on the global market. Zeiss was ultimately competing against itself,” explains Horn. On 1 July 2016, the Zeiss- Großplanetarium, Archenhold- Sternwarte, Planetarium am Insulaner and the neighbouring Wilhelm-Foerster- Sternwarte were transferred from the Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin to the newly established SPB. The four establishments were unified under the umbrella of the SPB. “That’s how the foundation came to be; it only took 25 years of discussions to finally unite the East Berlin and West Berlin planetariums and observatories,” says Horn. “Our projectors are based on LEDs, but the light source is a tiny LED, rather than 800 or 1200 sq m of LEDs. I don’t think LEDs are quite there yet in terms of their longevity, cost and energy efficiency. It’s still more expensive to run a planetarium or venue with LED technology than with traditional projectors. Running a
Berlin’s planetariums have gone through several evolutions, with the Zeiss-Großplanetarium (above) joining the newly established SPB union
planetarium has to be cost effective, and the ticket revenue is quite small, so they need to be sustained by public funding.” A hundred years ago, a planetarium was mostly star shows and constellations. “We’re currently transforming them from traditional star theatres into science theatres, hosting all kinds of events – from yoga under the stars to concerts with immersive visuals,” details Horn. “Planetariums need to move beyond their niche of traditional star shows. We have to reinvent what they can be; slowly transforming to become more relevant. Hopefully, they won’t lose their core focus on space and space travel, but expand that focus on all sciences, connecting them and bringing it all together through the beauty of the universe and our relevance within it.” DIGITAL DOMES The UK’s number one space-based visitor attraction, with over 330,000 visitors a year, is the National Space Centre, situated in Space City, Leicester. NSC Creatives have on-site access to the Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium, the UK’s largest digital dome (18m) and a 3m Stereoscopic 3D test dome facility. The on-site hybrid CPU/GPU render farm, high-speed storage and networks ensure all projects can meet the heavy technical requirements of immersive media production. Since its formation in 2000, the NSC has become a world leader in 360° digital planetarium fulldome production, with shows licensed to over 1000 venues across 70 countries in 25 languages. It uses emerging XR technologies to connect participants to narratives in innovative and exciting new ways, with XR experiences in some of the biggest international festivals, such as SXSW, Tribeca and Sundance. The Space Centre is the parent company of NSC Creative. “Effectively, they get our fulldome shows, but the majority of our market – and where the revenue comes from – is global,” says Ben Squires, NSC creative producer. “We’ve been testing our shows on different projectors. The Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium has a rough
We’re currently transforming them from traditional star theatres into science theatres, hosting all kinds of events... yoga under the stars, concerts with immersive visuals”
Tim Florian Horn, founding president of SPB, pictured with a Zeiss Universarium
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