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Visualization Dome

Wisdome in Gothenburg will be Sweden’s biggest visualisation dome. Here we aim to make complex science accessible to all with immersive 3D experiences in 8K resolution.

Expanding our world with visualization

Visualization technology enables us to access places that we could never reach ourselves and aids comprehension of events that would otherwise be impossible for the human eye to take in. The visualization dome will enable 150 visitors to go on a journey together, as they explore genuine research data and important future issues.

Sweden is a world leader within visualization of large quantities of data. Wisdome is based on research within visualization being conducted at Visualization Center C and Linköping University under the guidance of Professor Anders Ynnerman.

Three reasons to use visualization

1. Visualizations show both details and context

Our brains have evolved to rapidly identify visual patterns. Visualizations can simultaneously show the individual data points and how they relate to one another. Viewing details and context simultaneously provides a more in-depth understanding of how they actually interconnect.

2. Visualizations explain important messages

With visualization, vast and confusing quantities of data can be condensed into images, which in turn can convey messages in a direct and often intuitive way. The message being communicated depends on what you choose to highlight and visualise, and what you leave out.

3. Visualizations democratise science

In order to discuss and form an opinion, you first need to understand something, and visualization makes this possible in a way that explanations alone cannot. Non-verbal communication by means of images is inclusive and allows more people to participate in democratic discussion.

________

– Visualization provides huge capacity for making complex science accessible to all. The Gothenburg gem that is Universeum is now gaining an additional dimension for visualising research for its audience and inspiring generations with new knowledge..

Björn O. Nilsson, CEO Kungl. Ingenjörsvetenskapsakademien

Upcoming dome productions

The dome productions will make use of various perspectives and data to explain how the world works. All the content is based on science and mankind’s technological advances – prominent research that has been crucially important to how we view the world.

Making Magic 3D

Anything at all can happen in the magical world of visual effects. Making Magic shares insights into how visual effects are created for film and computer games – and how they are influenced by the laws of nature that govern the real world. With Peter Stormare as our guide, we discover how effects are created, from mathematical equations to powerful explosions.
Vast 3D

Space is inconceivably vast. With Eva Röse as narrator, we set off on a journey further out into space than mankind has ever been before. We start in our own solar system and head all the way out to the Big Bang. Everything we get to see is based on real data obtained through mankind’s technological advances and many years of research.
Open Space

Accompany one of our astronauts out among planets, stars and black holes. We undertake unique space journeys in real time with the aid of Open Space, a software for interactive data visualization of all of the known and scientifically plotted universe. Everything you see is real, based on actual data from observations, simulations and space missions.

Sweden’s biggest visualization dome

This advanced technology only exists in a few locations around the world. Universeum’s visualization dome is the biggest in Sweden, with high-quality laser projectors, a state-of-the-art sound system and enough processing power to transform research data into immersive experiences.

The building

Size: The dome is 26.5 metres in diameter. The total height from street level to the top of the dome is 57 metres.

Audience: 150 (cinema-style seating).

The technology

Projectors: Six projectors, model XDL-4K30 from Barco, which handle six different primary colours of laser. Brightness up to 30,000 ANSI lumens, resolution 4,096 x 2,160 per projector and a refresh rate of 120Hz. Total resolution 8K.

Sound: Sound system from Meyer Sound. Six X40 loudspeakers, four X42 loudspeakers (for a different dispersion angle) and three X-800C subwoofers.

Universeum’s visualisation dome is part of the national Wisdome project. Wisdome sees Universeum collaborating with four other Swedish science centres: Visualization Center C in Norrköping, Curiosum at Umeå University, Science Center Malmö Museums and the National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm. A group of ten universities and research environments are also linked to the project, providing knowledge in the form of research, technology, application and didactics.

The technology and the digital presentations have been made possible by means of a jubilee donation from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. In 2017, in connection with the foundation’s centenary celebrations, Wisdome received a donation of SEK 150 million to fund the project. SEK 100 million of this went towards visualisation technology at the five sites, while SEK 50 million was allocated for production of dome presentations at Visualization Center C.