June 16, 2014—At the 2014 IMERSA Summit in March, key stakeholders in specialty cinema discussed the convergence taking place between giant-screen film domes and digital dome theaters (aka fulldome theaters, or digital planetariums). The dialog moved representatives of leading fulldome system providers Sky-Skan, SCISS and Evans & Sutherland to form a new special interest group: AFDI, the Association of Fulldome Innovators.

Operating under the auspices and government of IMERSA, AFDI supports community-wide, professional standards to facilitate convergence of film domes and digital domes, and move the immersive dome medium forward. During the IMERSA Summit, AFDI held its first meeting to plan for the future and welcomed RSA Cosmos as its fourth founding member. AFDI sees itself as a similar organization to SMPTE.

Representatives from other digital planetarium vendors including Goto, Konica-Minolta, and Zeiss have also stepped up to join the AFDI, providing a strong base of support among the leading equipment manufacturers for permanent theaters in the digital planetarium community. The AFDI encourages other interested companies to explore AFDI membership. 

“We would like to invite producers, artists, portable planetarium vendors, and all interested members of the community to participate in the organization,” says Michael Daut, Director of Show Production/Marketing, Evans & Sutherland Digital Theater and AFDI Communications Officer.

To date, the AFDI has defined two key standards for the community:

  • Metadata standards for fulldome show delivery
  • A common 2K fisheye video standard that all fulldome systems can share to facilitate wide distribution of show previews and trailers.

The specifics of these standards are published to the AFDI website: www.domestandards.org.  


About IMERSA

(Immersive Media Entertainment, Research, Science & Arts)
IMERSA is a professional trade association recognized as a non-profit 501 (c) (6 ) Corp.
Our Vision – To build an international community of professionals who create large-scale immersive digital experiences.
Our Mission – To advance and promote the art and science of large-scale digital immersive media, fulldome, and immersive group experiences in digital planetariums, mobile domes, themed entertainment and giant screen cinema.


IMERSA's International Community

  • Over 700 registered users on IMERSA.org website
  • A substantial social media presence and network of media partners
  • Individual, Institutional and Corporate sponsors
  • A Board of Directors supported by a diverse body of Advisers

Links to AFDI founding member companies

Contacts:    
About AFDI: Michael Daut, IMERSA Board Member
AFDI Communications Officer
Director of Show Production/Marketing
Evans & Sutherland Digital Theater
801-588-1627

mdaut@es.com