Hybrid Hub Project – ◯ ◯ ◯

Fulldome Hybrid Hub Project.

The Fulldome Hybrid Hub is an R&D project funded by the South West Creative Technology Network (SWCTN).

The project was initiated through the South West Creative Technology Network in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its broader impact on the cultural sector, and asks creative practitioners to imagine the possibilities of a physical and digital future for our venues – a Hybrid Hub.

“In this uncharted world where we find ourselves reopening our venues, our core working structures need to be re-examined. How do we keep the serendipitous moments of interaction that lead to new dialogue and collaboration when we no longer have the same access to our spaces? …How do we move beyond simple telepresence and explore the feel and experience of trying to collaborate between both the digital and physical worlds – and what could emerge that we didn’t imagine possible before?”SWCTN

In July 2021, the Market Hall immersive dome opened in Devonport, Plymouth. The first of its kind in Europe, the 210-degree, flat floor dome, designed and built by dome experts, GaiaNova, offers students, graduates, researchers, organisations and businesses a unique opportunity to experiment with and develop content for domes and other, related technologies. Domes, as environments for shared VR, AR and mixed reality, offer a new environment for collaborative experiences and experimentation.

Unique double fisheye projector projection system

19.1 audio system.

Images by GaiaNova.

The ambition of the Fulldome Hybrid Hubs project is to network the Market Hall dome with other domes across the UK and beyond. To do this, the project will develop a hybrid hub capable of linking domes and enabling regular, live contact between dome users in a number of locations.

The project is led by Real Ideas, in collaboration with i-DAT, through a series of round tables and workshops (primarily online) with local partners, national and international partners. The sessions explored and developed the hybrid hub concept, specifying design requirements and commissioned a prototype build.

This website documents the development process and the software and hardware framework developed by the collaboration. Ultimately further funding was achieved from the British Council for the Ludic Architecture Project which allowed the collaboration to fully realise the ambitions of the Fulldome Hybrid Hub prototype.

Workshop #1: 04/02/2021

Workshop #1 Participants:

Luke Christison (Immersive Vision Theatre/Impact Lab), Tom Edie (SWCTN/UoP), Mathew Emmett (Architecture), Lindsey Hall (Real Ideas), Madeline Hall (Real Ideas), Niall Hamilton (Architecture), Bryn Higgins (BA GAD), Claire Honey (Real Ideas), Mohamed Hossam (MRes DAT), Philip Mayer (GaiaNova), Mike Phillips (i-DAT).

Workshop #2: 12/03/2021

Miro Board Design Session:

Workshop #2 Participants:

Luke Christison (Immersive Vision Theatre/Impact Lab), Tom Edie (SWCTN/UoP), Mathew Emmett (Architecture), Lindsey Hall (Real Ideas), Madeline Hall (Real Ideas), Bryn Higgins (BA GAD), Claire Honey (Real Ideas), Mohamed Hossam (MRes DAT), Christiana Kazakou (i-DAT), Rhys Lamble (Team-3), Konstantin Leonenko (The Bridge), Philip Mayer (GaiaNova), Mike Phillips (i-DAT).

Workshop #3 Fulldome Network: 23/03/2021

Workshop and consultation with key figures from the international Fulldome community:

Summary Presentation: PDF.

Workshop #3 Participants:

Tom Edie (SWCTN/UoP), Martin Kusch (University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria), Lindsey Hall (Real Ideas), Madeline Hall (Real Ideas), Johannes Hucek (University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria), Philip Mayer (GaiaNova/Fulldome UK), Paul Mowbray (NSC Creative), Mike Phillips (i-DAT), Ben Stern (GaiaNova/Fulldome UK), Micky Remann (Fulldome Festival, Jena, Germany), Jacob Watson (NSC Creative).

Workshop #4 Production Phase: 25/03/2021.

Following the workshop/consultancy process in Workshop #3 the team assessed options and developed a production process in order to present at the SWCTN Hybrid Hub Data Showcase, with further iterations planned for a Fulldome UK presentation in October.

Workshop #4 Participants:

Tom Edie (SWCTN/UoP), Mathew Emmett (Architecture), Lindsey Hall (Real Ideas), Madeline Hall (Real Ideas), Bryn Higgins (BA GAD), Claire Honey (Real Ideas), Mohamed Hossam (MRes DAT), Christiana Kazakou (i-DAT), Rhys Lamble (Team-3), Konstantin Leonenko (The Bridge), Philip Mayer (GaiaNova), Mike Phillips (i-DAT).

Fulldome Composite:

Prototype/Code:

The Hybrid Hub Project is built using EPIC’s Unreal Engine.

To be published here shortly….

The Hybrid Hub Project provided the software/server/network framework for the British Council for the Ludic Architecture Project.