Fraunhofer Institutes Open Tomorrow’s Cinema

The Fraunhofer Institutes HHI and IDMT, Berlin, have opened Tomorrow's Cinema with the premiere of Germany's first 180-degree short film Orlac reloaded.

Tomorrow's Cinema is a showroom with high-resolution digital 180-degree panoramic projection. The core of this technology is a 180-degree screen installed by Kinoton, and an Iosono 3D sound system from the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT.


The special screen consists of a glass fiber fabric specifically designed to support high-resolution digital projection of up to 6K. In addition, this material is characterized by a high acoustic transparency that brings the Iosono surround sound system to bear. The installation of a 180-degree screen is always a challenge since the vertical and horizontal tension of the screen must be very carefully attuned to each other in order to achieve an immaculate semi-circular curve. Any deviation from the correct curve may disturb the image geometry after all.


Six high-resolution video projectors project the 180-degree images, each reproducing a 30-degree section of the complete picture. The images overlap in a small area, creating a seamless panoramic image.


Orlac reloaded, an adaptation of the movie classic Orlac hands from 1925, is the first 180-degree short film produced in Germany. The panoramic shooting, utilizing a special camera rig with six HD cameras, took place within the scope of the PRIME research project in which eight leading companies and research facilities develop future technologies and viable business models for the introduction of 3D media consumption in cinema, TV and video games. PRIME is an abbreviation of Production and Projection Techniques for Immersive Media.

Kinoton www.kinoton.com