Dome projection using a spherical mirror

The following is a collection of material related to the projection into a hemispherical dome using a spherical mirror, a projection technique developed by the author in 2003 and variously referred to as "sphemir" or "mirrordome". For information related more towards fisheye lens and projection see this link.

Please note that I am available to assist you with your fulldome projection projects. This can be on an informal basis (just email me your questions) all the way to formally quoting, personally doing onsite installations, providing training and ongoing support. In the former case I am more then happy to advise (free of charge) but please first read the FAQ below since it is where I document answers to the questions I've received so far, as such it has a good chance of answering your questions. If you wish to formally engage me then also read the FAQ and then contact me by email.

• The original paper presentation: Using a spherical mirror for projection into immersive environments.
  Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques in Australasia and South East Asia. pp 281-284.

• Photographic gallery of some installations using this technique

• FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
  Primarily targeted at those contemplating creating their own dome projection system based upon the spherical mirror.

• iDome: Image gallery of iDome applications [Older images of the iDome]
  Movie showing some iDome applications
  iDome poster Dimensions) and Parameterised dimensions
  Content creation diagram: idomespecs.pdf

• Presentation at the Western Alliance Planetarium Conference by Bentley Ousley: Spherical Mirror Projection for Large Domes

• Sketchup to iDome
  Moving Sketchup models to the iDome, via the Unity3D game engine.

• EarthDesk in the dome
  Display current Earth globe interactively in a dome.

• Screen Capture and Warping
  Example with SkySafari
  Warping fisheye application images with QuartzComposer using screen capture.

• Immersive gaming: a low cost projection environment.
  JMM (Journal of MultiMedia), Volume 3, Issue 1, May 2008, pp 41-46.

• Two very simple show controllers based upon Quartz Composer
  One based upon keystrokes and support for some alternative interface devices. Another designed with a graphical user interface and able to be run on a single computer or remotely using a separate playback and GUI computer.

• A calibration tool that creates precise map files for spherical mirror projection.

• An image warper to create prewarped movies.
  

• Notes on the use of Stellarium with spherical mirror projection.
  Comparison of image quality between fisheye and warped images.
  

• Direct rendering of warped fisheye views for spherical mirror projection

• Wide field of view projection in a rectangular room

• The current mirror specification used by the author and supplied as a first surface product by Acril.

Software with mesh file support for fisheye warping

• World Wide Telescope and spherical mirror projection support.

• Software Bisque and spherical mirror projection support.

• A real time "warp-on-the-fly" movie player
  Includes navigation modes that was originally designed for spherical mirror projection (mirrordome) but also supports many other movie projections that just fisheye.

• warppatch
  A Quartz Composer patch that implements the warping of images and movie frames suitable for novel projection problems into immersive spaces, including the spherical mirror based methods.

• An interactive panorama viewer for domes including support for warping for the spherical mirror.

• Using the Unity game engine and spherical mirror projection

• Using Blender games in the iDome

"The brain is an enchanted loom where millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern. A.S. Byatt

Historical material

• The original web page created late in 2003.
  [Now out of date on a few points]

• One of the early presentations given to the Australasian Planetarium Society.
  [Now out of date on a few points]

• First art exhibition employing a spherical mirror.
  Graphite (ACM Siggraph) Dunedin 2005.

• One of the early presentations given on this approach.
  [Now out of date on a few points]

• Original attempt at projecting into an upright dome.

• While the author developed this technique for current digital projection, it has been used in the past for film, see Patent 2,299,682.

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