GeoDome

Birmingham Southern College is turning their planetarium into a state of the art "GeoDome." The building will remain the same, with its domed ceiling and original theatre chairs, which can hold to 45 to 50 people. The GeoDome will focus on Alabama geography, with a 20-foot long floating screen that takes viewers from BSC to Turkey Creek, to Little River Canyon and other Alabama landmarks. The GeoDome will have a part-time supervisor that will not only run grade-school tours but will be available to work with BSC students who wish to use the GeoDome. The second phase of the renovation will include a virtual classroom on the bottom floor. The screen will in 4k projection technology, which is 30-40 times clearer than HD. “This classroom will have Oculus Rift, the whole nine yards," says Hazelhoff, who is director of the Southern Environmental Center and in charge of the project, referencing one of the popular virtual reality systems used by filmmakers, designers and other creative tech professionals. He hopes for the virtual classroom to tie in with the media and films studies program and science departments. With the technology, students will be able to walk around a 3D heart or show their own student-produced films. The entire campaign will cost approximately one million dollars and will completed at the end of 2018.

References: Roald Hazelhoff, director of the Southern Environmental Center (SEC) at Birmingham-Southern