Photo by Mike Smail, Adler Planetarium
OpenSpace is an incredible, powerful piece of planetarium simulation software and the open-source philosophy means planetariums (and immersive venues, and other theaters of any shape) can take advantage of its high-quality visualizations no matter what their budget is. But like many open-source projects, the evolving landscape of the software’s features and rapid growth of the project have made it hard to stay on top of documentation and training for many users.
Providing support and training for OpenSpace has been part of Tau Immersive’s mission right from the beginning. I’ve been part of the OpenSpace project almost from the beginning, and was instrumental in bringing it into daily use for every program during my years at Morrison Planetarium. One of Tau Immersive’s most popular services has been bringing our OpenSpace to help our colleages get the most out of the software through training workshops and tutorial guidebooks.
The Adler Planetarium isn’t just the first planetarium in the United States, it’s inspirational to me personally. Ever since I was a preschooler, growing up in Michigan, I was inspired by trips to Chicago’s Museum Campus. For years my favorite vacations included trips to the Field Museum or Shedd Aquarium. It wasn’t until I was 12 or 13 that we finally headed out towards the lake to see what the copper-domed building we’d seen from the distance was all about.
What I saw clearly shaped the trajectory of my life and career.
Adler had recently installed the novel StarRider Theater. This technology was a major evolutionary step in the planetarium experience. This merged together the calligraphic realtime graphics of Evans & Sutherlands‘ Digistar II projector with early-generation CRT video projectors to cover the planetarium dome in rendered video. Visitor input via buttons on the armrest could would even change the events and conclusion of the planetarium show.
The show discussed the future of human habitation of Mars, educating us on the challenges of settling on the planet, while involving us in the decisions that would shape its success and survival. I’d been to other planetariums and seen Mars just as a still image in the sky, maybe a spinning video hovering in space. But suddenly it became a world I was traveling to through the power of the planetarium.
It’s dynamism of that experience that has inspired my work with realtime planetarium systems, including OpenSpace. I always emphasize in my training that OpenSpace transforms the planetarium experience from learning about space to experiencing space. I teach planetariums how to use OpenSpace to build our audience’s human connection with the Universe.
Photo by Mike Smail
It was an honor to get to help an institution that had such a positive influence on my life. In December of 2025, I was invited to the Adler to run one of my OpenSpace training workshops for their team. Although the Adler Planetarium has been one of the OpenSpace projects Informal Science Institution Partners for years, they felt they could be doing more with the software. Over three days I worked with both their Theaters Department and Production teams to build up a complete understanding of how to use OpenSpace, from the fundamentals, to experimental extensions of the software.
“I’ve worked with OpenSpace for about six months before Dan came and gave his week-long workshop. Even after day one, I felt like I knew OpenSpace better than before, and by the end of the week, my skillset reached new heights. I now feel comfortable building new mission modules and spice kernels that I have always wanted to build but didn’t know where to start. Thanks Dan!”
Dr. Nycole Wenner, Science Visualization Specialist, Adler Planetarium.
One of my favorite parts of how I structure my OpenSpace trainings is building everything up from the fundamental connections in the software’s components that expose its underlying power. Each step I guide the attendees through is mirrored exactly in written reference documentation they get to use at the end of the class. Combined with the “a-ha!” moments of discovering how to take control of the software, users leave the workshop ready to unleash their creativity through OpenSpace.
“Bringing Tau Immersive in to build our team’s comfort and familiarity with OpenSpace was exactly the boost we needed to turbocharge our abilities with this powerful visualization tool. Dan’s focused approach to teaching the material to the strengths of the participants was highly beneficial, and I’d recommend any planetarium strongly consider this valuable training and professional development experience.”
Mike Smail, Sr. Director of Theaters and Visualization, Adler Planetarium
Adler initially plans to use OpenSpace to refresh exhibits graphics and interactive elements and will continue to explore how to use throughout their facility in the future. A tremendous thanks to the Adler Planetarium team for inviting me out. With OpenSpace making it easier than ever to transport audiences to distanct worlds, I am eager to see what they do to inspire the next generation of kids who step through their doors.
If you’re interested in Tau Immersive’s OpenSpace Training Workshop, reach out to us! We work with domes of all sizes, including portable planetariums. We also support OpenSpace in traditional theaters and immersive venues.
