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They have now installed six state-of-the-art Christie projectors — the highest grade of theatre-level equipment, comparable to what Cineplex uses in its newest facilities. Until recently, these were also the standard for IMAX theatres, which typically rely on just a single projector, whereas the planetarium now harnesses six, with additional units kept on standby for contingencies.

In an interview with Daily Hive Urbanized this week, Tobias Chen, the CEO of VCS, said each projector provides a 4K resolution, and when stitched together, it offers an impressive 10K picture on the 65-foot diameter dome screen. That translates into 150,000 lumens and 100 million pixels of bright, clear projections — a vast improvement from the previous technology used by the planetarium that was installed well over a decade ago.

“We really came together and I talked to every single person I know that might have some kind of connection to get projectors. In the end, we managed to do it,” said Chen.

“We found out through this process that almost every other planetarium is actually kind of like this place, where it’s a city-owned thing that doesn’t have a decent budget, and they’re using ancient technology that should have been upgraded a long time ago.”

Matthew Cimone, the senior interpreter for the space centre, also told Daily Hive Urbanized that new digital projectors for the planetarium were by far the most pressing need for the space centre.

“Digital projectors have gotten way better in the past 10 years, so we need to upgrade everything so we can kind of stay relevant and stay modern,” said Cimone.

Lucy Lai, the space centre’s director of marketing, added, “It has been the same systems for many years. It started to break. It is the unfortunate situation where things are getting technology is being outdated. And so in order for us to be relevant and trending again and really be part of this exciting world of development and growth, we needed to upgrade.”

BEFORE — Previous image quality with the old projectors:

AFTER — Drastically improved image quality with the new projectors:

But beyond the complete overhaul of the projectors, additional work was carried out by Chen’s team to ensure a truly optimal audio-visual experience.

A key focus was the planetarium’s sound system, where relatively minor physical adjustments but major technical programming changes have produced a remarkable leap in quality, immersing spectators in crystal-clear audio from every angle of the 360-degree venue’s 230 tilted seats.

The sound equipment previously installed in 2013 has largely been retained, but Chen contends that those who set up the system back then simply “just plugged everything in and left.”

To address what Chen describes as a glaring lack of attention to detail in the planetarium’s previous setup, his team brought in a highly skilled, THX-certified calibrator. They placed microphones throughout the theatre to capture how sound was experienced from every seat, and using industry-leading calibration software, the team meticulously measured the individual drivers in every speaker — fine-tuning the system to achieve near-perfect audio precision, with 20,000 watts of Dolby Atmos.

Essentially, he says, this means every single speaker’s sound arrives to the spectator at the exact same time, regardless of where they are sitting.

“Days and days and many weeks of calibration went into this to make this sound really good. So even though the exact same equipment was in here before, well, not the exact same speakers were in here before, the amount of calibration that’s been applied to it has completely changed the sound. It’s very close to some of the best sound you can get now these days,” said Chen.

These state-of-the-art audio-visual improvements for the planetarium have now enabled VCS to deliver the higher calibre of experience needed to open Dome Vancouver. He also shared that one of their advisors is Deanan DaSilva, who was the chief technology officer of the Sphere in Las Vegas, and they also received some help from local Cineplex theatres.

VCS has an initial year-long contract — through August 2026 — to have their team operate the planetarium every evening, after the space centre’s regular operator hours.

And backed by popular demand, they are launching Dome Vancouver by bringing Pink Floyd back to the planetarium with the 42-minute, space-themed Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon experience. The Pink Floyd show will debut on Aug. 1, with the full production featuring lasers kicking off on Aug. 9.

“It seems like there’s a pent-up demand for Pink Floyd within Vancouver,” Chen told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“Everyone’s like, ‘bring Pink Floyd back!’ They want to see this kind of experience here. What’s interesting is Dark Side of the Moon, that album in the 1970s, was actually first released in a planetarium. So when that album first dropped, the band decided to do it in a planetarium in London.”

Other shows in Dome Vancouver’s initial lineup include the stunning space-themed shows of Tom Hanks: Passport to the Universe, Pedro Pascal: Encounters in the Milky Way, and Space Explorers: Spacewalkers, as well as Le Musk, featuring Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman.

“These are really intense films with top-level talent, top-level rendering, top-level quality, just displaying it in this kind of format,” he said, adding that they currently have a total of about 10 different shows lined up. At a later date, they will also launch food and beverage concessions as a part of the nightly experience.

Over the longer term, Chen wants his team to produce some original content, instead of overwhelmingly relying on licensing third-party productions.

They already have ample experience doing so, most notably working on a recent production at Las Vegas’ Sphere — for Anyma’s End of Genesys show. Just weeks before the premiere, the VCS team worked around the clock for a month to complete the work.

As the name of their company suggests, they specialize in volumetric capture methods, which involve the use of hundreds and hundreds of cameras — surrounding actors, animals, and objects — and process the footage into one is like a hologram scene. This can then be applied into virtual reality experiences and other innovative mediums.

“Our ambition in the future is to make original content because our talented team is specially skilled in making this kind of immersive content from scratch. So far, we’ve just been mostly licensing stuff because we just want to get this up and running, but as soon as we get a better sense of what people want, we will have a sense of what works in this kind of venue,” said Chen, noting that VCS currently has a team size of about 15 people.

And ultimately, he added, the even longer-term plan is to expand the business where this similar partnership model can be replicated at other planetariums, where his company can offer to upgrade their planetarium in exchange for operating rights for their immersive theatre experiences.

The next leap after that would be to establish new, standalone, purpose-built permanent immersive theatres, with such a venue featuring a downward tilted screen so that the line of sight is on the floor.

“We definitely want to start with Vancouver because that’s my hometown, the city that I love the most in the entire world. I grew up here, was born here, and I’ve never wanted to move anywhere else. This is where I want to be.

“So if I were to do it tomorrow, I’d definitely start in Vancouver. But eventually, it would be a global thing to build venues like this all around the world.”

Until then, Dome Vancouver at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre is their first test run.

And for the space centre, it comes as a very clear win-win for everyone involved.

Liu told Daily Hive Urbanized that beyond providing the planetarium with much-needed upgrades, VCS and Dome Vancouver will also help bring new visitors to the space centre and promote general awareness about their educational programming.

The enhancements, of course, also serve to improve the space centre’s daytime programming, before Dome Vancouver’s takeover each evening.

“We’re more than just a space centre now. We’re using top cutting-edge technology. We are going to showcase what ‘edutainment’ is going to be like,” said Liu.

Beyond the initial launch, Chen also has plans to make some upgrades to the lobby area of the planetarium on the second level — where ticketholders will be waiting to get into the Dome Vancouver experience.

Both Chen and Liu also highlighted the possibility of activating the building’s landmark exterior, specifically the side of the complex with the main entrance and iconic crab sculpture and water fountain decorative feature. This could involve the use of nighttime projection mapping for the exterior, effectively activating the space and bringing more visual interest.

Lorraine Lowe, the executive director of the space centre, told Daily Hive Urbanized that the result of this partnership is “a great example of how beloved civic spaces can evolve. We’re bringing new life to a landmark with deep roots — blending cutting-edge tech with nostalgic energy to create experiences that connect and inspire.”

The space centre shares the building space with the Museum of Vancouver.

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