Inside a GeoDome Theater, attendees at this year’s Scuba Show in Los Angeles explored the undersea world. “Diving is an inherently social activity,” said Tracy Young Eichner, associate producer. “You’re sharing the experience with your fellow divers, and being in the GeoDome really mimics that.” 

The GeoDome immersed both new and experienced divers in the world of diving, all while on dry land on the show floor of the LA Convention Center. The experience was produced by our longtime collaborators at Vortex Immersion. Akuario360 filmed and produced underwater 360° video to create a 12-minute immersive journey set to music. WorldViewer made it simple to show Akuario360’s content – no need for a new render for the new dome configuration. 

To accommodate the 6,000 attendees, the show chose our larger 8m-diameter GeoDome. The open doorway makes the dome accessible for all ages and abilities. An OmniFocus 30370 projection system in the center of the dome creates ample room for rows of seats and wheelchairs, while kids and the young at heart can lie on the floor in front. Truncated projection creates a sense of presence in the undersea world. 

In Akuario360’s show, viewers begin at the water surface at the iconic Casino Point dive park on Catalina Island, descend into gorgeous kelp forests, and encounter giant sea bass. They travel south of the border to Mexico for playful sealions and seals, inquisitive bull sharks, and huge bait balls; then to Bonaire in the Caribbean for sun-drenched soft reefs, huge tarpon, the famous Salt Pier and the wreck of the Hilma Hooker, finally resurfacing through the Catalina kelp forest. 

The GeoDome Theater was featured at the Scuba Show on June 1-2, 2024.

Photo credits: Scuba Show, Akuario360