The Kavli Fulldome Lectures: From Domecasting to VRcasting

This Presentation will describe the creation and dissemination of high quality fulldome planetarium lectures featuring some of the world’s best science communicators. This collaboration between the Adler Planetarium and the Kavli Foundation has also been to explore innovative methods to maximize the audience for these lectures, while still maintaining the power of the immersive visualizations. To accomplish this the lectures are being ‘domecast’ to occur simultaneously at planetaria all around the world with the planetarium content synchronized across the various domes. To date we have held five domecast lectures, which have been simulcast to 30 sites across North and South America, Europe and Africa. To further extend the reach of these presentations we have started experimenting with “VRcasting”, the live streaming of 360 degree video to be viewed in VR devices such as the HTC Vive or Google Cardboard. VRcasting has the potential to break down geographic barriers. People in areas of the world without planetaria (such as much of Africa) can participate. VRcasting can also break down mobility barriers; for example, people in our own community of Chicago can view the lecture from their hospital beds.

Bibliography:
· SubbaRao, M., Bringing data to the done: Scientific visualization for all planetariums, The Planetarian 2013,42, No 4
· SubbaRao, M., McPike, P., Data to Dome: From Domecasting to VRcasting, The Planetarian 2016 ,45, No. 4
· Lantz, E., The Planetarium of the Future, Museum Journal, Volume 54, Number 3, 2011