ST Engineering Antycip has announced that the Sherwood Observatory Planetarium project is entering its final phase following the installation of all key components.
The integrator has worked closely with the observatory, in collaboration with RSA Cosmos – Konica Minolta, to deliver this 7.7 million Euro planetarium, set to soft launch in November 2024 ahead of the planetarium’s official launch in
January 2025.
The planetarium features out-of-this-world technologies, including advanced SkyExplorer software and audiovisual technologies, located inside a facility that is expected to become a major hub for STEM education and an attraction for local and international visitors.
Speaking exclusively
to Inavate in 2023, Amir Khosh, commercial and project manager, ST Engineering Antycip, explained the process behind this project that has been five years in the making.
Kosh said: “Some other planetariums or museums retrofit a dome
into the space which is not bespoke for the purpose. This is custom built for the user experience.
“A lot of the way that we deliver the hardware and software is not just tailored to entertainment, we are trying
to help the local area with learning. When I went to planetariums 20 years ago, you would just go and see something like a 3D model, but that is completely different here. You might watch an animation, but
you get so much meaning from it. The software delivers entertainment and mathematical information about the stars and offers an integration for Unity so schools can develop their own models and teaching modules, integrate their models into Unity and
import it into the planetarium to visualise it on a large screen.”
Marking the company’s first break into the planetarium space, the project includes a selection of Sony projectors, with a high resolution of 4.4K. Antycip delivered Sony
GTZ380 projectors to simulate the dark sky environment and deliver high contrast. The planetarium also features boardrooms that can be used as classrooms for visiting schools and universities to simultaneously meet the needs of educational and entertainment-centric visitors.
Amir
Khosh, commercial and project manager, ST Engineering Antycip, added: "We are thrilled to see this project coming to fruition. It has been an exciting journey from inception, and we are eager to share this state-of-the-art educational experience with the community."