Think Virtual Reality without the glasses. That’s what lluminarium aims to offer: a communal, connective entertainment meant to be enjoyed as a shared human experience. All done without wearable hardware of any kind. Behind the curtains, though, a lot of hardware and software makes the experience happen.
The first show, WILD: The World’s First Virtual Safari, takes the public from the majestic plains of Masai Mara to the great herds of Kruger National Park to the verdant watering holes of Samburu Reserve, all without them having to travel more than to Atlanta, where the first Illuminarium Experiences will open next Spring. WILD will transport visitors across the African continent in the world’s first virtual safari.
Opening next Spring on the active Beltline just south of Ponce City Market — this will be the first of its kind, an experiential attraction and immersive event space. The team behind the project says that “Illuminarium Experiences is a digitally delivered, global experiential entertainment brand. We create, produce, market, and manage immersive entertainment spectacles, produced using techniques used in traditional motion picture production and virtual reality that allows visitors to view real-world, filmed content in a 360º environment. “
The company adds that ”what museums are to art, cinemas to movies and concert halls to music, Illuminariums are to experiential entertainment. With venues of approximately 25,000 square feet and 25+ foot high ceilings, Illuminariums are reprogrammable immersive theaters that surround visitors in a sensory space of sight, sound and scale unlike any other. “
The entertainment space aim to provide access to the most amazing, but typically out-of-reach, places, people and experiences to make our planet a more inspired, more empathetic and more connected place. Founded by Alan Greenberg, Radical Media and The Rockwell Group, Illuminarium Experiences brings together best-in-class partners in content creation, theatrical design, interactive technologies and venue operations.
To make the magic happen, Panasonic System Solutions Company of North America, Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America (“Panasonic”) is an Official Technology Partner of Illuminarium Experiences, the company announced at CES 2021. In this role, Panasonic will be the exclusive visual solution provider of native 4k projectors, 4k professional displays and 4k professional camera solutions for Illuminarium’s 360-degree immersive experiential entertainment centers.
Illuminarium Experiences will open its first three 30,000 square foot venues in Atlanta, Miami and Las Vegas, to be followed by other domestic and international locations. The company expects to have 25 to 30 Illuminarium venues open in the world’s great megacities and mega tourism locations within the next five years.
Illuminarium’s first spectacle is WILD: The World’s First Virtual Safari. Opening in Atlanta in mid-2021, this interactive spectacle will showcase the beauty and splendor of the world’s most exotic animals in their natural habitats. With the power of Panasonic’s advanced large venue native 4K laser projection technology, the Panasonic PT-RQ50k with 50,000 lm brightness, 4K resolution and vivid color, visitors will be transported to Africa where they will go on a journey throughout different environments and habitats.
The Panasonic partnership also includes the manufacturing of a unique lens for Illuminarium to produce an enhanced immersive experience. Panasonic’s engineers collaborated to create an ultra-short throw lens with minimal offset and loss of light. With this advanced Panasonic technology, Illuminarium will truly be a visual guest experience never before realized.
Adjacent to its venue in Atlanta, Illuminarium is building a state-of-the art R&D and post-production center called The Illuminarium Lab. The Lab will serve as an ongoing center of research and development in immersive entertainment and interactive technologies, in collaboration with key Illuminarium technical partners, including Panasonic, Holoplot and Disguise.
“Illuminarium spectacles will transport visitors through an unprecedented combination of total sensory immersion, larger than life scale, and theatrical inspiration that would not be possible without the groundbreaking, best-in-class technology from our valued partners like Panasonic,” said Alan Greenberg, CEO, Illuminarium Experiences. “At Illuminarium, we’re proud to be democratizing the world’s most amazing places, people and experiences through highly engaging, socially conscious and educational immersive digital spectacles.”