About The VR Dome Theater...

There are thousands of planetarium theaters around the world. Under their domes, audiences take in the sights and sounds of the universe — stars and galaxies, planets and moons. People learn the ways of science and nature. And they revel in enlightening and entertaining artistic and musical performances.

We thought, "How can we provide the same great audiovisual experience you get under the dome, but in the comfort of your own chair?"

So, in 360° spherical video, we've created a virtual dome theater. The seats are in the bottom half of the sphere; above, the dome show plays on the top half — just like in a real planetarium. You, the viewer, are positioned at the center (the prime location). The seat backs often recline in real planetarium theaters, so you don't have to crane your neck too much to look up at the dome. In The Vera Rubin VR Dome Theater, we tilted the dome forward to compensate, which actually simulates the layout in many real-world tilted dome theaters.

That's the general idea — to bring the planetarium theater experience to your screens, devices, and VR headsets.

How this works...

Every show we offer has a trailer online, free to view. Browse through them, to help you decide which full-length movie to buy.

Now at most real planetarium theaters, you pay for your movie by buying a ticket at the box office. Then you wait for the doors to open, and enter when it's show time.

Here at The VR Dome Theater, you pay for your movie by buying a stream or download. We use Vimeo's On Demand service for our online e-commerce.

After your payment is processed, you can stream the show and watch on your VR headset, or download it to watch using your own VR-capable player, such as VLC.

Who We Are...

Loch Ness Productions has worked in the planetarium business for decades. We've produced dozens of shows ourselves, and we also distribute shows from other fulldome producers. Visit the LNP Web site to learn more about this aspect of our work.

Who Is Vera Rubin?

Dr. Vera Rubin (1928-2016) was a pioneering astrophysicist instrumental in the discovery of dark matter in the universe.

In 1933, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky proposed the existence of dark matter, supernovas, neutron stars, galactic cosmic rays, gravitational lensing by galaxies, and galaxy clusters. However, his peers generally ignored his predictions and observations; they had only just realized that galaxies were large groups of stars. In the early 1970s, Vera Rubin studied galactic rotation curves, and uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted angular motion of galaxies and their observed motion. Her extensive work led to the confirmation that dark matter exists. She received many awards for her work in expanding our understanding of the universe.

To recognize her important achievements, we've named our virtual planetarium The Vera Rubin VR Dome Theater in her honor.