The planetarium has projection system

2001/06/22 Kortabarria Olabarria, Beñardo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Softwarea
• Museoak

The Kutxaespacio Planetarium of Miramón Science will be the first in the world to use the computer-controlled video projector system. The system will take the entire dome of the Planetarium to give static images and motion simultaneously. The system integrates a PC and 17 Macintosh on the network. Computers have all the images, but only those that correspond to them project. "There are other planetariums that have star projectors and then add static images, but we have added movement," said Felix Ares, director of the Science Museum.

The system has been developed by the Donostian company Ikusi and the Swedish company Dataton. To develop the new system, Ikusi researchers have needed more than a year of work, developed the software and hardware of computers and adapted it to the hemispherical geometry of the planetarium, while the Swedes have developed a system that allows to transport images from one projector to another. According to Felix Ares, the system has been developed with 16 million pesetas, "if we went to the United States, we would have to spend 800 million pesetas to buy the technology."

The system is ready, but the start-up of the star projector is pending for use. They have chosen the Digistar-2 projector, a projection system of 120 million pesetas. In July he will start working with a projection on Juan Sebastián Elcano.