Ivan Dryer, creator of Laserium, will be featured speaker at 2013 IMERSA Fulldome Summit in Denver

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Ivan Dryer

IMERSA.org announced that Laserium creator Ivan Dryer will be a featured speaker at the 2013 IMERSA Fulldome Summit & Workshops, 13-17 February at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Laserium was born in the late 1960s and early '70s. Ivan Dryer, then a film maker, inspired by a new multi-colored laser at Cal Tech, first made a film to set the patterns to music and then assembled a team of engineers and artists to design an advanced laser projector in order to produce live choreographed laser shows. Presenting the idea to Griffith Observatory and Planetarium landed Ivan a temporary concession operating permit from the city of Los Angeles, and the first Laserium show to the public premiered November 19, 1973. Laserium expanded to many locations in the United States and abroad and has been experienced by more than 20 million people. 
 
Laserium was important not just in terms of technology but because it introduced a new business model to planetariums - entertainment shows that extended the programming, expanded the audience and provided a new source of revenue. With planetariums now rapidly converting to digital dome video ("fulldome") systems, and science center operators likewise converting their film domes to digital cinema there is new potential for creativity and market expansion, and new interest in the pioneering example set by Ivan Dryer more than 35 years ago.


"The Art & Science of Immersive Storytelling" is the theme of the IMERSA Fulldome Summit, 13- February at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The event isattended by operators, content creators and distributors, producersand vendors serving planetariums, giant screen cinema and themedattractions - all converging markets because of digital cinema. TheDenver Museum of Nature & Science will be the setting for theannual IMERSA Summit, preceded by two and a half days of fulldome(digital dome video) workshops.
Areas of focus will includesound design and audio, cross-platforming from fulldome to giantscreen and vice versa, designing a fulldome curriculum in schools,scripting and story for fulldome shows, and setting up fulldometheaters as multipurpose spaces. There will be a series of curatedscreenings, a Fulldome Innovation Salon for networking, productdemonstrations and content sharing, a Creative Video Lab and theIMERSA Fulldome Standards Committee will address audio as the nextphase of its work. Workshops will range from beginner to advancedlevels.
The Summit organizing committee includes Dan Neafus (Gates Planetarium),Ryan Wyatt (Morrison Planetarium, California Academy of Sciences, EdLantz (Vortex Immersion), Michael Daut (Evans & Sutherland), MarkPetersen (Loch Ness Productions), Mark Slater, Carolyn Petersen (LochNess Productions), Matt Mascheri (Dome 3D), Jay Heinz (MoreheadPlanetarium), Ken Scott (Visual Chaotics), Claudia Cumbie-Jones(Ringling College of Art & Design), Lance Ford Jones (RinglingCollege), Jane Crayton, John Jacobsen (White Oak Institute), PaulFraser (Blaze Digital Cinema Works), Markus Beyr (Attraktion!),Judith Rubin and Karen Roney. Registration for the 2013 IMERSA Summitopens in early December 2012. Email inquiries to info@imersa.org.
IMERSA- ImmersiveMedia,Entertainment,Research,Science& Arts- is an international non-profit professional organization thatcelebrates and promotes immersive and fulldome media for educationand entertainment in planetariums, schools, museums, cinemas, eventsand attractions. Mandated to raise the profile and professionalism ofits members, IMERSA bridges many disciplines including researchers,artists and technicians. IMERSA is a driver and nexus forcommunication, collaboration, experimentation, education andpromotion of digital immersive media in a variety of formats andfunctions.
IMERSA Board members are Dan Neafus, director of the Gates Planetarium at theDenver Museum of Nature & Science, Ed Lantz of Vortex Immersion, Ryan Wyatt, director of visualization for the California Academyof Sciences and Michael Daut, Director of Show Production/Marketing at Evans &Sutherland.