Illuminarium Experiences

Concept

Illuminarium embarked upon a noble quest: To Democratize the World’s Most Extraordinary Experiences. Our vision was to craft an immersive venue, empowered by the wonders of technology, capable of ferrying individuals to realms and landscapes hitherto unknown to the ordinary traveler. The privilege of a safari or the lunar stroll is a rarefied privilege, a treasure possessed by few upon this terrestrial sphere. Thus, at Illuminarium, our aspiration was to render these cherished encounters accessible to the multitude. We enrobed this ambition in the art of layering and orchestrating technology, weaving a tapestry of "reality" that would bewitch the guests and suspend their disbelief.

I was introduced to the genesis of Illuminarium, among its pioneer pair of architects, when the concept only existed on paper. My inaugural task was to breathe life into that two-dimensional manifesto. Through the courtship and nurturing of relationships with preeminent technological manufacturers scattered across the globe, I began to forge a nebulous blueprint, the scaffolding upon which this immersive marvel would stand. I started to formulate a loose plan to comprise the skeleton of the experience. Over the next three years, I designed and built a Lab facility, a venue in Atlanta and a Flagship venue in Las Vegas as well as started design for a venue in Toronto. Through those years, I honed my vision for immersive experiences, as well as built and managed a technical team. Along the way developing new features, designing new shows and working alongside manufactures to refine their products within the immersive use case.

The content undertaking at Illuminarium was just as big of a accomplishment as the technology was. Creating a seamless environment comprised of over 40 million pixels is not an easy task. At twenty times the format size of native 4K, the Illuminarium canvas was giant to stitch, composite, color correct and render. We designed our own camera rigs, and invented VFX workflows utilizing our own software to be able to deliver an Illuminarium show. Beyond that, we added the capability to render the entire canvas in realtime using various game engines like Unreal, Unity and Touch Designer. At the time it was the world’s largest realtime render cluster.

This labor of love summoned forth every facet of my technical acumen and creative spirit. A formidable challenge, an endeavor as rewarding as it was exacting, it proffered an unparalleled opportunity to extend the frontiers of experiential possibility.

Illuminarium Lab

With the sheer size of the content we set out to produce, it quickly became clear that we needed a place to test at scale. That being top of mind, we built a lab facility to test with a small curved section of wall and floor compared to the main venue concept. Using all the same technology, components and construction, we now had a space to work and test at the Illuminarium scale.