FLORENCE, ITALY – Florence stuns the world with an installation anticipating Expo 2015: a super-technological dome enclosing projections of the city’s emblematic sites and its know-how. The I_Dome, installed in the Cortile Nuovo of Palazzo Vecchio and open free of charge to visitors until 31 October, was inaugurated this afternoon by the Florence’s Mayor Dario Nardella and Leonardo Bassilichi, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Florence.
Designed by architect Alessandro Moradei with Elena Mari, the I_Dome is a Chamber of Commerce of Florence project produced by PromoFirenze after an idea by Alessandro Grassi, art director of the #Expo2015Firenze projects. Sponsored by the City of Florence and the Region of Tuscany, the I_Dome was built by the Florentine company Machina and enhanced with multimedia contents by TT Tecnosistemi of Prato.
The concept of teleportation, or disappearing from one place and appearing in another, is a perfect analogy for the effect generated by the full-immersion technology used in this project. Inside the dome, visitors have the sensation of being in another place without having taken a step from where they were.
To obtain this effect, six video cameras simultaneously, but separately and from different angles, captured the scenes which were later put together to construct an ‘equi-rectangular’ video: the scenes are synchronised for projection on eight latest-generation projectors to generate a 360-degree video.
The spectator has only to select a vantage point from which to peruse the views of the city, as though he were really exploring the streets. If he raises his eyes, or turns around, he is transported, for example, from Piazza della Signoria to the Mercato Centrale or from an artisan workshop to a cutting-edge scientific research laboratory. A contribution to the spectacularity of this unique video comes from video mapping and immersive animation technologies and four touch-screen monitors present videos of Florentine excellences and a time-lapse documentary of the installation of the dome.
The I_Dome offers visitors a unique opportunity to make the acquaintance of a Florence capable of uniting artisan tradition and the digital avant-garde. The possibility of seeing Florence from new points of view. And in every corner of the world. The I_Dome, 8.5 meters in height by 6 in width, will be in Palazzo Vecchio until 31 October, when – broken down into its modular elements for TIR transport – it will be ready to travel to major international fairs.
Use of materials such as polycarbonate and polyurethane resins makes the I_Dome an environmentally-sound, durable, movable work for installation at indoor locations (such as trade fairs) and outdoor sites. And the dome is Wi-Fi capable to permit visitors to check the events calendar online at the www.expo2015firenze.it website.
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