Historical maps overlaid on satellite imagery of San Francisco
I'm Dan Tell.
For over 20 years, I’ve built a rewarding career as a data visualizer, developing engaging, scientifically rigorous experiences for diverse audiences.
I’ve honed my multimedia chops in collaboration with researchers, musicians, visual artists, technologists, and science enthusiasts to bring their stories and data to life through visual storytelling powered by technology.
I develop data-driven visualizations to serve a wide variety of media requirements, ranging from conventional 16×9 screens through the special requirements of planetariums, 3D theaters, and other immersive venues.
I’ve produced hundreds of impactful experiences for the public, students, policymakers, and scientific conferences and conventions. I’ve also produced high resolution videos, graphics for press releases, and unique interactive experiences, while supporting the often-complex technologies powering these presentations.
My diverse expertise has ranged from particle physics, to the large scale structure of the Universe; 3D anatomy of the human eye, to the brain of an Octopus. My specialty for the last decade has been bringing geospatial data into immersive theaters, combining high resolution terrain data and imagery with 3D computer graphics, empowering research, development, and activist stories on the ground; or giving people “on the ground” experiences exploring other worlds. My background as a technologist combines with these production skills to make sure I can design and integrate the hardware and software that deliver the “wow” experiences that give people personal connection to science.
Many years ago, tasked with ambitious program goals, I said “anything can be done” and I’m always eager to explore new data, face new challenges, and apply my skills and dedication to helping everyone develop a deeper appreciation for the wonders of science, technology, and the natural world.
Career Highlights
- Significantly improved reliability, function, usability, and uptime for the Alexander F. Morrison Planetarium and other immersive venues at the California Academy of Sciences, producing hundreds of live planetarium programs and providing content and engineering support for rendered dome film production.
- Designed, engineered and implemented multiple technology systems upgrades.
- Revitalized planetarium show production at the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium and interactive exhibit creation for the Grand Rapids Public Museum.
- 2022-2024 GLPA President; Youngest-ever GLPA Fellow honoree.
- Led and organized March for Science San Francisco, one of the largest public pro-science demonstrations in history.
- Collaborated and provided engineering support on multiple programs and productions with partner institutions domestically and internationally.
- Major community content and support contributor to Uniview and OpenSpace software projects.
- Invited speaker and immersive media presenter for arts and technology festivals.
- Developed or contributed to over 100 planetarium productions.
Dan Tell presents at Ars Electronica (Credit: Tom Mesic)
Employment
Tau Immersive
Founder & President (2024-Present)
Innovative technology consulting for immersive geospatial and science visualization.
California Academy of Sciences
Manager, Planetarium Engineer (2018-2025)
Senior Planetarium & Production Support Engineer (2014-2018)
Planetarium & Production Support Engineer (2012-2014)
Led the Planetarium Experience Engineering Team in hardware and software system design, integration, and maintenance for the Academy’s immersive media venues.
Grand Rapids Public Museum
Planetarium & Audio Visual Lead Technician (2008-2012)
Planetarium Associate (2004-2008)
Planetarium Intern (2003-2004)
Oversaw and facilitated production of planetarium programming, maintenance, produced and installed visuals for planetarium programming.
Selected Lectures and Presentations
Embracing the Immersive Future (2024)
Panel discussion at Giant Screen Cinema Association Filmmakers’ Symposium.
Ghosts Among the Stars (2023)
Keynote speech at the Planetarium Centennial Launch Gala.
Ars Electronica Presentations
- Calling for Help: Can ET Save Us? (2024)
- The Quest for Cosmic Truth (2023)
- Searching for Planet B (2022) – reprised as a Benjamin Dean Astronomy Lecture
Innovation Through and Despite Technology (2009)
Grand Rapids Community College Faculty Learning Day (with Luann Keizer).
Dan Tell presents at Ars Electronica (Credit: Tom Mesic)
Dan Tell and Michael McConville hosting the Constellation Shootout at the GLPA Conference (Credit: Anna Green)
March For Science San Francisco
Dan Tell speaks at March For Science San Francisco
Dan Tell presents at Ars Electronica (Credit: Tom Mesic)
“How do you use AI in your work?”
Tau Immersive does not use AI in the direct generation of any simulations, visual, or written products.
Beyond the ethical considerations of generative AI in creative fields, our visualization work needs to be able to stand up to legal challenges and peer review for our partners. This means the methods need to be clearly understood, defensible and repeatable.
While AI can generate compelling visuals and can be trained and goaded into producing intriguing results, its methodologies are not publicly exposed or defensible in these situations.
In addition, data fed to AI models may become part of their corpus of knowledge, which can violate confidentiality and intellectual property of our partners. We take great care not to feed your data into machine learning algorithms.
AI is good at large scale data processing, and we may use it to assist with certain tasks with large publicly accessible data sources and as a coding and scripting assistant, with human clean-up and review.