[StereoscopyNews]

Discovery Dome (Houston, TX, USA) manufactures and sell inflatable 360° 3D stereoscopic projection domes and they offer till July 2012 a 3D starter package for free with the standard $29,495 price system!….

Immersion vs. 3D Stereoscopic

All digital planetariums (mirror and fisheye, both offered by Discovery) are immersive, giving a 3D effect by projecting the fulldome image all around you, but not stereoscopic, where your two eyes see different images so it appears to come near you.  There are a few projection systems that offer full dome AND stereoscopic 3D, but they use multiple projectors and are tremendously expensive.  For stars and distant objects, stereoscopy isn’t really needed (as all stars are very very far), but for action movies of course 3D stereoscopy really adds to the experience.

That is why Discovery now offer for the first time ever a low-cost system that can easily switch from full-dome to 3D stereo, using the same projector, same dome, and even same laptop.  The magic is the dual-mirror Newtonian^(TM) system developed by Avela.

The newest projector offered by Discovery can show both 2D and active 3D content.  In fulldome mode, it uses the Newtonian in its standard 2-mirror mode.  By using two mirrors, you don’t have to left/right reverse the projector (with two mirros the image is reversed two times, thus apperas normal again).  If then you want to show a non-fulldome movie, all you do is remove the secondary (30 seconds), zoom out the projector and go. If you want to show a 3D stereoscopic movie, you just switch the projector input’s from the laptop to a 3D blu-ray player, or use a 3D laptop as a stereoscopic player, put on the glasses, and now your visitors see full active 3D, but not on the full dome – just on the front part of the screen.  …

Read the full story here: http://stereoscopynews.com/hotnews/3d-cinema/exhibition/2183-discovery-3d-domes.html