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The Swinburne Virtual Universe features more than 106 square meters (1,141 square feet) of wraparound LED displays (Image: Absen)
The Swinburne Virtual Universe features more than 106 square meters (1,141 square feet) of wraparound LED displays (Image: Absen)

LED: Swinburne Opens Immersive Astronomy Facility

The Australian university says the installation may be the largest wraparound 3D LED environment built for public education.

Swinburne University of Technology has opened an immersive astronomy facility that allows visitors to explore planets, solar systems, and deep-space simulations inside a wraparound LED environment.

The Swinburne Virtual Universe, unveiled in Melbourne in April, combines more than 106 square meters (1,141 square feet) of LED displays with content generated from astrophysics research and supercomputer simulations.

According to the university, the facility may be the largest fully wraparound 3D LED installation created for public education.

The environment is designed for undergraduate teaching, school visits, public outreach, and creative programs, including film, games and animation. Visitors are surrounded by 3D visualizations generated using Swinburne’s OzSTAR and Ngarrgu Tindebeek supercomputers and rendered with Nvidia GPU technology.

Absen supplied the LED displays for the project, which use the company’s Chip-on-Board technology. The university cited image quality, durability and close-viewing performance among the requirements for the installation.

The facility is part of Swinburne’s broader space science and astronomy initiatives and will gradually open to schools, families and the wider community.