Meet Dalai Felinto: the software engineer / artist who is working on providing the software and images for projection inside the dome. We got the chance to ask him a couple of questions, so enjoy!

Who are you, and what do you do?

Simply put: I’m an architect / urban planner, born and raised in Brazil. I am currently working with computer graphics; my most important current job being the development of visualization projects for the Fisheries Center in the University of British Columbia. I work primarily with the 3D tool Blender, although I haven’t given up on my sketch book, and have great fun learning more and more computer programming.

On top of that I have music as one of my hobbies, and I’m pretty excited about the 2010 World Cup competition.

Why do you support Cosmic Sensation?

At the end of 2008 I was contacted by the Society of Arts and Technology – an art school in Montreal, Canada – to provide a workframe solution for interactive visualizations within fulldomes. They hired me to extend the open source Blender Game Engine for full support of this immersive technology.

Since then I have fallen in love with domes. It’s a combination of so many of my personal and professional interests that I feel very blessed for the unique opportunities I have / had to work with that. Right after the conclusion of this project (successfully integrated into Blender main code in July 2009) I started my graduation project in Brazil. With the main theme narrowed down to “Immersive Domes for Architecture” I had a blast on going deeper and deeper into this subject. Needless to say it was impossible to keep my work brief and after I finished it I was hungry to learn more of it.

Making a long story short, I look forward to any new opportunity to cross these unsailed oceans. Or should I say, “where no man has gone before” Science, Technology, Art, Interaction, Netherlands … How could someone not support it?

What can we expect in terms of visuals?

How can you visualize something invisible to naked eyes? There is no right answer for that, for there is a total freedom in the visuals’ work. You can expect more than fireworks or bright stars in a dark night. Rays, waves, colors, lots of colors. The visual never exists by itself. For its main role is to merge with the sound, effects and detectors to provide a unique integrated experience.

We are trying to gather the contribution from the different artists that are part of this project. I really hope the idea of the “contest” (more like an art exhibition) can work out well.

Have you ever done this kind of thing before?

Tricky question. While a project of this scale puts me slightly outside my comfort zone, the components required to make it work are exactly what I have been working with in my earlier projects.

Interactive visualization in domes is still a big white canvas to be further explored by stubborn (crazy?) people. Yet, my past experience with its usage for architecture reveals that it can soon become a safe ground. A tool/toy to be fully enjoyed by the generations to come.

No kidding. In this past February we inaugurated an immense dome in my former university. One of a kind.

Soon its technology is going to be integrated in some of the study disciplines over there (Universidade Federal Fluminense – Escola de Arquitetura e Urbanismo). I don’t get tired of this though. Fulldomes are a very strong communication tool, and it serves perfectly as a bridge between science and the general audience.

- Any last comments you really want to share with the public?

I’m passionate about astronomy. I spent countless nights wandering in the Planetarium of Rio de Janeiro, either attending one of their presentations, courses or sneaking into the lines to see through one of their telescopes. They used to have a session of live music and a star show. It couldn’t have been more perfect. I knew music and exploring vast dark nights are connect to common roots in the history of humankind. From the clear atmosphere of the African savannas to the flatland of the Netherlands. From native songs to modern digital sound effects. They are our inheritance for future generations. For all of that, for me to live is the cosmic sensation. And I’m really glad to have the chance to take a part in it.