- The new Wits Anglo Digital Dome has an updated opening date.
- Originally meant to open in December of 2024, it will now open to the public in February next year.
- It will serve as a venue that offers a 360-degree immersive experience for visitors.
Wits University has provide an update regarding its refurbishment of the iconic Planetarium building on its Johannesburg campus. To that end, the new Wits Anglo Digital Dome as it will be known moving forward, will be opened to the public in February 2025.
A more definitive date has not been shared by those close to the project, but the latest opening window represents a push back of two months, as it was initially set to be opened at the end of 2024.
When ready, is it said that the Digital Dome will offer a, “360° immersive experience for visitors of all ages, with a variety of shows for young and old. It will also serve as a modern teaching venue and a collaborative research space where scientists and students can visualise their work – be it in big data, astrophysics, the digital arts, artificial medicine, microbiology, or precision medicine.”
It will also be the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere once completed, and is made possible through an investment of R90 million from Anglo American and Wits University.
“For the past 64 years, the Planetarium has entertained, inspired and educated millions of visitors from Gauteng and beyond,” noted Professor Zeblon Vilakazi (FRS), Vice-Chancellor, and Principal of Wits University (pictured on the right, above).
“Personally, I visited the old Planetarium in 1981 at the height of apartheid. It left a huge and indelible mark on me, and I believe that it played a key role in igniting a scientific spark that led to me becoming a nuclear physicist. Through the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome, we hope to continue inspiring people from various disciplines including those working in climate modelling, artificial intelligence and the digital arts,” he continued in a release shared with Hypertext.
As part of the refurbishment, the original Zeiss projector has been replaced by 10 brand new digital projectors to render an 8K full dome resolution. Each projector has its own image generator and the sound in the Digital Dome has also been upgraded to an 8.2 audio system. Added to this is new auditorium seating, with the possible future creation of a “Science and Technology Exploratorium”.
A new north wing expansion is in the offing and will house operational offices, exhibition areas, and specialised spaces for Digital Dome show planning and design.
“The Wits Anglo American Digital Dome will enter a pilot phase from November to the end of January 2025 and is expected to open its doors to the broader public in February 2025. The first shows to be viewed in the Digital Dome include a set of six full dome shows, donated by the American Museum of National History.
To find out more about the Dome, as well as what is planned over the coming weeks and months, head here.
[Image – Provided]
