Today we’d like to introduce you to Ed Lantz.
Ed, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
As a teenager, I wrote a science fiction short story about performers in the future who project their consciousness onto large holographic domes, taking audiences on journeys into the performer’s mind. Because performers had perfected consciousness, participants would have incredible transformative experiences… even spontaneous healings.
I studied electrical engineering, convinced that the future of art would be driven by technology. I accepted a position as an aerospace R&D engineer on Florida’s Space Coast. After seven years, however, I yearned to flex my creative muscles, so I left my high-paying position to work in a planetarium in Cocoa, Florida and wrote 300,000 lines of code to control the stars, sun, moon and a full complement of video and special effect projectors. After taking that job, I got chills after remembering the SciFi story that I wrote as a teenager about domes. We ended up building a new facility that was dubbed the most advanced planetarium in the world.
I taught a full-day course on Graphics Design for Hemispheric Projection at SIGGRPH, the largest computer graphics conference. It was there I was recruited to work at a planetarium manufacturer, Spitz, Inc., where I built a team to develop over a dozen “digital domes” around the world including the Library of Alexandria’s planetarium in Egypt and Domo Digital at the world’s largest children’s museum in Mexico City called Papalote Museo del Nino. I realized, however, that digital domes had potential far beyond educational planetariums or giant screen cinemas. I founded Vortex Immersion Media in 2007 to take this immersive visualization technology into mainstream arts and entertainment.
Vortex has since produced hundreds of immersion dome experiences over the last 14 years. We’ve done experiential marketing experiences for IBM, Nike, Nokia, AT&T and Microsoft, created narrative journeys for NBC Universal and Adult Swim, hosted concerts for Childish Gambino (Donald Glover), Skrillex, Diplo and Braves, have worked on TV episodes for 60 Minutes and Castle, have supported music videos for Beyonce and JZ and have produced our own highly successful visual musical dome shows.
Vortex is now focused on expanding the business including designing, building and programming immersive entertainment venues. While the pandemic has taken a toll on location-based entertainment, projects remain active including the Vortex DomePlex in Phoenix and a venue here in Los Angeles. These domes will host concerts, live stage performances, immersive art shows, metaverse parties and more.
The domes are coming!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
After founding the company in 2007 we started raising capital. The economy crashed in 2008 and money became scarce. We needed to generate revenue or the company would fail. We learned how to create highly compelling immersive experiences in temporary pop-up -domes for experiential marketing events at Super Bowl, Comic Con, SXSW, festivals and more. This drove our sales to $2m.
Another challenge hit when I split with my business partner of 10 years. I took it as an opportunity to pivot the company back into building permanent immersive entertainment venues. But just as we were closing a merger crafted to bring in capital to realize our dream, COVID-19 hit and killed the deal. We continue to work on development projects while producing online events and experiential marketing projects to keep the doors open.
We’ve been impressed with Vortex Immersion Media, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Vortex Immersion Media creates awe-inspiring 360-degree multisensory extended reality (XR) experiences for the masses including fixed and mobile immersion dome theaters and programming. This includes for 360 cinema domes, special events, live immersive concerts, VR nightclubs, live 360 multicast and more. The company is fostering an ecosystem of branded, ticketed immersive media destination venues. Vortex pioneered the digital dome format which wraps imagery around an audience like a VR headset. The format is compatible with VR distribution platforms which serve as secondary distribution channels for dome content.
The company’s primary product is the Vortex Dome, an immersive media studio and event space. Our Vortex Dome operated for ten years in Downtown LA where we developed and showcased a wide range of immersive entertainment experiences and technologies and market-tested them with live, ticketed audiences. Shows include a Bollywood musical called BollyDoll with singer and artist Amrita Sen and composer Anthony Marinelli, a ballet by Stefan Wenta called Blue Apple, and Steve Roach in concert featuring the work of immersive artist Audri Phillips and numerous concerts, parties and special events. The theater is driven by a proprietary immersive media server and a unique 360 projection configuration designed expressly for live stage performances. The company has a streamlined 360 content production pipeline, social media engagement systems and a range of 360 theater designs.
Vortex recently served as technical producer on an unveiling event for Archer’s electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft called Maker. We built one of the largest ever 3mm LED XR Stages for both a virtual production shoot and a live audience experience for 100 people which included a live stream of the event.
Vortex is also proud of our latest production, James Hood’s Mesmerica. This show played in over 30 dome theaters and IMAX domes with more than 300,000 tickets sold up to the pandemic with an average ticket price of $30 for the 1-hour show. Check it out at www.mesmerica.com.
We are also pleased to sponsor Dome Fest West, an annual immersion dome film festival. Learn more at www.domefestwest.com.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
I am in service to people and the planet. In these times, if an individual or a company is not actively seeking to solve global challenges and make a better world, they are probably doing the opposite. My focus is more so on the circulation of money which activates than the aggregation of money which stagnates.
I also see the need for a mass evolution of human consciousness towards greater wisdom, empathy and awareness. Technologies such as robotics, AI, telecommunications, media and computation have extended the power of human consciousness to great heights. But with greater power comes greater responsibility. It’s time to grow up.
This is the thrust behind Vortex Immersion Media and my other for-profit and non-profit endeavors. Immersive media is a powerful tool for modeling new ways of being.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://vortexdomes.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vorteximmersion
- Other: https://vimeo.com/vorteximmersionmedia
Image Credits:
Ed Lantz, Rukes.com, Vortex Immersion Media
