Infinite Zoom is a new immersive exhibit space for the refreshed McNair-Davis Planetarium in Jackson, Mississippi, powered by the OpenSpace open-source planetarium simulation software. Tau Immersive has been proud to help the Friends of the McNair-Davis Planetarium, Phil Groce of Helping Planetariums Succeed and Larry Polla of PollaVision with the development and installation of this exciting space for the reopening of the facility.
While people often associate me with planetariums, I frequently surprised colleagues when I told them my favorite place at the California Academy of Sciences wasn’t Morrison Planetarium, where I served as engineering manager for a dozen years–it was Hohfeld Hall, the panoramic theater that served as the entrance space for the planetarium. When I first interviewed at the Academy I saw Hohfeld being used as a creative space for the planetarium presenter team to develop a wide variety of live, interactive programs, in a welcoming environment. This, I knew, was the kind of programming I wanted to encourage.
Hohfeld Hall at the California Academy of Sciences, showing timelapse footage from the International Space Station
When Phil Groce gave me a call about a panoramic theater he wanted to develop for the McNair-Davis Planetarium, I was excited to join the project. “I’ve designed and maintained a space very much like that” I told him, describing Hohfeld Hall, and sharing my enthusiasm to build and improve on the previous design.
Infinite Zoom photo courtesy Phil Groce
Infinite Zoom is a 3-screen blended panoramic display spanning over 10000 pixels wide. For the initial experience we designed a looping OpenSpace experience, zooming the audience from the planetarium, out to the edge of the visible universe and back, with informational overlays along the way to highlight our discoveries across the scale of the cosmos. With slightly different highlights on the outbound and return voyages, the 9-minute experience will engage visitors whether they join the journey for a few minutes or stay for the whole tour.
Infinite Zoom photo courtesy Phil Groce
Because the experience is powered by OpenSpace as an interactive flight rather than a rendered video, we could make adjustments and changes as we iterated through the design phases of the program. This also gives the theater incredible ability to expand its use in the future–easily becoming a live presentation space using OpenSpace, or where future design changes can add interactive kiosks to let visitors turn Infinite Zoom into their own spaceship, touring the cosmos themselves.
It’s been an honor to bring this experience to the people of Jackson, and I am excited to see how it they use it as the planetarium comes to life!
