It is not recommended to set up a dome outdoors. There are no anchor points to secure the dome in place and wind gusts can cause the dome to move. Also, rain could potentially cause water stains to develop on the interior surface. However, that being said, our Discovery Dome has been used with great success at many outdoor events in good weather, including on the White House lawn.

Yes, however a standard 2D (or 3D) video was not produced to be shown in a fulldome theater so the image will be distorted when projected covering the entire dome. But by reducing the size of the playback window on the system computer, a very large image can be shown on the front–center portion of the dome without distortion. This also works for real time internet connections such as NASA broadcasts. Many of our projectors have 3D capabiity, so you can hook up a 3D blu-ray player, slide the mirror in, and have an awesome 3D video experience. (This requires special active glasses)

YES! a 102-page manual comes with Stellarium with many activities.   Most of our shows come with educator guides.  And each dome system comes with a free copy of Space Update, our excellent museum display kiosk software that also has activities.   In addition, we have created FREE animations on the upcoming solar eclipse (link).  O PTIONAL with each system are educational clips on the phases of the moon, the tides, the seasons, created by Starlight productions ($600 for 3, $1050 for 6).

We can and will provide supporting data to include in your grant proposals but we do not actually provide assistance or have a template to follow.

No, however we do have contacts at a major national bank that could provide a loan.

We exhibit at numerous educational and industry trade conferences throughout the year and we can make arrangements to have you visit us at these shows. We occasionally conduct on-site demonstrations if there is a high likelihood of a system sale. It is best to contact our sales staff to explore the options.

Our portable, inflatable Go-Domes™ conform to the highest U.S. standards possible for fire retardancy. The flame resistance certificate is available to read and download, and we have a video of the fabric placed in a flame.

Our portable, inflatable Go-Domes™ can be setup and taken down by a single person. Weights vary according to size and cloth type.

Set up time for a portable planetarium system is ~30-45 minutes. It takes ~20-30 minutes to take it down and pack it up.

Dome height depends on the diameter and the number of rings. Basically, the height is half the diameter plus, at minimum, a half meter of spring line, but taller if it has 2 or more rings. We can make "extra short" domes on request (e.g. a 5m dome only 8 ft tall for schools). See our product pages for Standard Go-Domes™, 2-Tube Go-Domes™, 5-Tube Go-Domes™

Body size determines the audience capacity. In a 5 meter dome 35 second-grade students can comfortably fit inside; 45 in a 6 meter dome. If adults in chairs, more like 20-22 in a 5m dome.

We believe the Discovery Dome can easily be set up by one person; however the dome is the heaviest component. To avoid back injuries when loading and unloading the dome from a vehicle, it is recommended that the operator ask for assistance. The various sizes and weights of our domes are listed on the dome specification page.

Yes, it runs on MacOS 10.4-10.14. NOTE: MacOS 10.15 Catalina does NOT support 32-bit applications like MediaShow.

Yes, it runs on Windows 7, 8, 10.

Either - your choice! MediaShow runs on either as a dual-screen setup with computer and projector or a single-screen computer setup mirroring to a projector.

Yes, MediaShow can be used with a touchscreen.

Yes. Non-warped content can be shown on the dome if you use the bump and zoom features of MediaShow to center your content on the front-lower portion of the dome to bounce off the flat part of the mirror. You can leave the background as black or use MediaShow to add a custom background image to display behind your media file. Examples are included in the installation sample buttonset.

No, MediaShow doesn't but FishTank does. Both are included in all full ePlanetarium systems

No, MediaShow doesn't but FishTank does. Both are included in all full ePlanetarium systems

MediaShow can support any unicode text language, including Chinese and Korean. The Windows (but not Mac) version can also support right-to-left languages such as Arabic and Hebrew.

MediaShow can support 4K projectors on the second screen in "Pro" mode.

Yes, you can set up your laptop to mirror to an iPad using "Splashtop™" and use its touchpad to control the show.

Yes, it can run on Mac or Windows. To use the VR360 function you need Mac or Windows 10.

Fishtank can handle fulldome videos (circular); prewarped videos (1920x1080); VR360 videos (2x1 aspect), and flatscreen videos. All videos need to be in .mp4 format.

The largest video that Fishtank can warp at present is 4000x2000. Higher resolution is wasted on a 1920x1080 output, and will slow it down.

The Fishtank developer is working on this. It will be "Fishtank Pro" and available through the Microsoft store.

A few demo games are available now. The developer is working on fulldome multiplayers games that can be played over the internet. It will be "Fishtank Pro" and available through the Microsoft store.

Yes, we have special Stellarium config files that make the image look great on a mirror. And it can be launched from within MediaShow.

No, Stellarium is designed to launch on the main screen. You could set up the projector as the main screen, or launch Stellarium in a window and drag it over. I have asked the Stellarium developers to add this as a feature, but it is a group open-source effort.