NVO and The Digital Planetarium

NVO and The Digital Planetarium

NVO Outreach WorkshopNVO Outreach Workshop

July 11, 2002July 11, 2002

Ed LantzEd Lantz

Product Development managerProduct Development manager

Spitz, Inc.Spitz, Inc.

Large-FormatFilm TheatreLarge-FormatFilm Theatre

Traditional PlanetariumTraditional

Planetarium

Digital Planetarium

Digital Planetarium

Dome TheatersDome Theaters

•Hemispheric Projection Screen

•Starfield Projector

•High-resolution astronomical simulation

•Hemispheric Slide Projection or “All Skys”

•Narrow Field Video is Common

•Laser Graphics - Full or Partial Dome

•Combination Large-Format Film, Planetarium

•Total Annual Attendance Worldwide: 87,400,000

Traditional PlanetariaTraditional Planetaria

Planetarium Worldwide % Planetarium Worldwide % ofof

Classification # of Theaters Classification # of Theaters TotalTotal

School/District 999 36%

University/College 397 14%

Museum/Science Center 375 14%

Observatory/Other 201 7%

Unclassified 782 28%

TOTAL 2754

Planetarium FactsPlanetarium Facts

* Courtesy The LNP Planetarium Compendium, Loch Ness Productions, 2000

Dome Size (m) # of Theaters # Tilted DomesDome Size (m) # of Theaters # Tilted Domes

3 - 6 766 2

6 - 9 696 3

9 - 12 463 9

12 - 15 191 23

15 - 18 98 17

18 - 21 102 34

21 - 27 80 40

Portable 774

Planetarium FactsPlanetarium Facts

* Courtesy The LNP Planetarium Compendium, Loch Ness Productions, 2000

•Hemispheric Projection Screen

•Tilted 20-30º typically

•Large-Format Film

•15-perf, 70mm (original IMAX® format)

•8-perf, 70mm (increasingly popular format)

•Dome Diameters from 15m to 28m+

•254 LF Theaters Worldwide - Half are Domes*

•175 Large-Format Films Released*

Large-Format Film TheaterLarge-Format Film Theater

* From White Oak Associates, Inc. Inventory of Large Format Theaters, 1998 edition

•Full Dome or Partial Dome Video Projection

•Multiple Edge-Blended Projectors or Fisheye

•CRT, DLP, LCoS projector technologies

•30+ Existing/Planned Theaters by 7 Manufacturers

•Most Use Pre-Rendered, Pre-Recorded Shows

•Hi-res digital video graphics technologies

•Realtime 3D Interactive Becoming Affordable

Digital PlanetariumDigital Planetarium

•Evans & Sutherland - Salt Lake City, UT

•GOTO Optical - Japan

•Spitz, Inc. - Chadds Ford, PA

•Sky-Skan - Nashua, NH

•Trimension, Inc. - Burgess Hill, UK

•Silicon Graphics/Zeiss/Schneider

•Minolta - Japan

Digital Dome ManufacturersDigital Dome Manufacturers

•AMNH/Rose Center - New York City

•Bibliotheca Alexandria - Alexandria, Egypt

•Burke Baker Planetarium - Houston, Texas

•Exploration Place - Wichita, Kansas

•National Space Centre - Leicester, UK

•LodeStar Planetarium - Albuquerque, NM

•Northern Lights Centre - Watson Lake, Yukon

•National Air and Space Museum - DC

•Adler Planetarium - Chicago

Sampling of Digital PlanetariaSampling of Digital Planetaria

Sampling of Digital PlanetariaSampling of Digital Planetaria

LodeStar PlanetariumAlbuquerque, NM Bibliotheca Alexandria

Alexandria, Egypt

Spherical Projection FormatsSpherical Projection Formats

Single Projector(Fisheye)

Single Projector(Fisheye)

Edge-Blended Projectors

Edge-Blended Projectors

Edge-Blended ProjectionEdge-Blended Projection

Polar Source is Split Into Sub-

Frames and Edge-Blended

Polar Source is Split Into Sub-

Frames and Edge-Blended

Sub Frame 1 Sub Frame 2 Sub Frame 3 Sub Frame 4Sub Frame 1 Sub Frame 2 Sub Frame 3 Sub Frame 4

Fisheye ProjectionFisheye Projection

Polar Fisheye Source Image

Polar Fisheye Source Image

•Simple Configuration

•Limited Hemispheric Resolution (2048x1536 pixels)

•Requires Projector Inside Theater Space

• Astronomical Visualization

• Night sky visualization– Naked eye and deep sky

• 3D visualization and simulation– Astrophysical models– Digital Galaxy, Cosmic Atlas, Deep Space Explorer, etc.

• Informal Educational Programming

• Need compelling, meaningful stories– What is our place in the universe?– What’s out there?– What does it all mean?

» My future, mankind’s future

• Data queries & data interpretation• Visualization data mining, formatting

Feeding the Digital PlanetariumFeeding the Digital Planetarium

• Public Planetaria

• Science & astronomy educators• Media/production staff• Astronomers

• School Planetaria

• Science and astronomy educators

• Show Producers

• Writers• Art directors• Animators• Editors• Musicians

Who Are We?Who Are We?

•Pre-Rendered Shows

•Dome master format

•Composited Images– All-Sky Images– Deep-Sky Objects

•Realtime 3D

•Texture maps

•Star/Object Data

Graphics FormatsGraphics Formats

Pre-Rendered ShowsPre-Rendered Shows

•Dome Master Formats

•Spherical mapping format

•Master format for archiving, distribution, etc.

•Independent of particular projection geometry

•Defined only by resolution, field-of-view, file type

– independent of specific projection scheme

Polar Fisheye MasterPolar Fisheye Master

180º180º

0º0º

-90º

-90º

Longitude

Longitude

+90º

+90º

0º0º

+90º

+90º

-90º

-90º

Polar Fisheye(Azimuthal

Equidistant)

Polar Fisheye(Azimuthal

Equidistant)

Equidistant Cylindrical MasterEquidistant Cylindrical Master

-180º

-180º

+180º

+180º

0º0º

-90º-90º

Longitude

Longitude

Lati

tud

eLati

tud

e

0º0º

+90º

+90º

Equidistant CylindricalEquidistant Cylindrical

Skinning a Sphere with Platonic Solids

Skinning a Sphere with Platonic Solids

Cubic MasterCubic Master

Advantage - Efficient File FormatDisadvantage - Scene is Broken Up, Difficult to Preview

Advantage - Efficient File FormatDisadvantage - Scene is Broken Up, Difficult to Preview

• All-Sky Images

• Celestial sphere at all available wavelengths– specified coordinate system– compositing must be seamless, no missing data

• Numerous mappings acceptable– azimuthal equidistant (separate hemispheres)– equidistant cylindrical– Hammer-Aitoff– cubic

• Deep-Sky Objects

• Need sufficient metadata!

Vis Needs: Pre-Rendered Shows Vis Needs: Pre-Rendered Shows

All-Sky Image ResolutionAll-Sky Image Resolution

Number of Pixels Required to Project Eye-Limited Resolution on Hemisphere:

Number of Pixels =

(0.5) (4 steradians) (57.3°/steradian)2 (60 arc min/deg)2

(0.5 arc min/pixel)2

= 300 Million Pixels!!!

•Fisheye Projection Systems

•1024x1024 or 1536x1536 polar frame

•Edge-Blended Projection Systems

•up to 4000x4000 polar frame

•Highest Resolution All-Sky Images in Use

•14,000x7200 equidistant cylindrical (3 arcmin)

•Nearly 300 MB file!

•Seamless Transition to High-Magnification Images

•Deep sky zoom with higher resolution

All-Sky Image ResolutionAll-Sky Image Resolution

•Many Excellent Images Available from STScI/Aura

•Where Do They Go in the Night Sky???

•Need Metadata!

•Image angular height/width

•Image center RA/Dec

•Image rotation w.r.t. celestial coordinates

•Image brightness/magnitude?

•Estimated object distance (for 3D systems)

•Simplified Search Capability a Plus

Deep Sky Objects Deep Sky Objects

Deep Sky Zoom Deep Sky Zoom

•Higher Resolutions allow Seamless Zooms

•1024x1024 useful

•4000x4000 better

•8000x8000 best!

Deep Sky Object Resolution Deep Sky Object Resolution

•Numerous Formats in Use

•TARGA is currently most popular format

•Compression artifacts can be a problem

•High Dynamic Range Formats Needed

•Display dynamic range limited (1000:1)

•HDRI, Cineon, others…

Image FormatsImage Formats

•Automated Downloads

•Solar weather•Solar system images, data•Transient phenomena•Current terrestrial/space based images & metadata•“Edu” releases – current event items

•Connecting People & Resources

•Not all data is accessible online•Queries can actually drive future research•Amateur astronomer image exchange•Astronomers have stories to tell… we need stories

Other Ideas…Other Ideas…

Thanks... Thanks...