Immersive Fulldome Show Sensitive Abstraction Celebrates Real-time Success with SMODE

	SMODE enables allows common graphic operations such as moving objects in 3D space, changing their size and appearance and improving colorimetry to be made almost instantaneously, the company says.

SMODE, Smode Tech's media server and real-time compositing platform, is powering Sensitive Abstraction, a new fulldome graphic and sound art performance by visual artist Yannick Moreteau and electronic music composer Flore.

Described as an immersive journey through the poetic dimensions of mathematics, Sensitive Abstraction has been touring planetaria and digital arts festivals in Canada and France since its premiere in 2024. Created entirely within SMODE, Sensitive Abstraction transforms abstract mathematical principles such as the Fibonacci sequence and Euclidean grids into flowing visual tableaux, synchronized in real time with Flore's score in spatial audio.

Moreteau, founder of the arts collective WSK, developed and runs the entire performance using a single SMODE media server, from the creation of the visuals to generating and exporting the content, previewing the dome projection, and managing the show live with SMODE's real-time compositing capabilities. Unlike traditional media servers without real-time compositing, where all content must be pre-rendered ahead of a show, SMODE enables allows common graphic operations such as moving objects in 3D space, changing their size and appearance and improving colorimetry to be made almost instantaneously, the company says.

"In a dome, working with real-time generative content is essential," explains Moreteau. "You need to be able to adjust perspectives on the spot; drawing a straight line in a hemisphere is quite a challenge!"

Sensitive Abstraction is delivered to audiences using two synced computers -- a desktop for video and a laptop for audio -- with video streamed at 4K resolution (ideally 4096 × 4096) via NDI to venue servers for projection. The projection setup inevitably varies depending on the venue: usually four to five projectors are sufficient, although at the large SAT (Societe des arts technologiques) auditorium in Montreal -- one of several unique venues visited by the show, along with the planetarium at the Cite des sciences et de l'industrie in Paris and the La Rayonne concert space in Lyon, among others -- the show used as much as eight projectors along with 157 loudspeakers.

SMODE really comes into its own when Yannick Moreteau needs to adapt the show's setup to different-sized venues, he continues: "The setup is scalable from one dome to another. We often need to make adjustments depending on the dome's angle and shape - whether it's a perfect 180-degree hemisphere or not. That's where SMODE is an invaluable tool for live adaptation, avoiding the need for lengthy, heavy re-exports [of the video content]."

"Aside from generating the content, I used SMODE to preview the dome projection," he adds. "That helped me anticipate what would or wouldn't work, without needing access to a real dome every time."

Alongside touring Sensitive Abstraction, the WSK collective have also found time over the past year to lead SMODE workshops and demos for budding visual designers, so impressed were they with the platform, according to Moreteau. Smode Tech has provided WSK -- of which is it a technical partner -- with a SMODE Live Premium licence.

"I believe SMODE is still not well known enough among designers and technicians, even though it addresses their needs perfectly," he concludes. "It is an incredibly powerful tool with a unique approach. We truly believe in the power of this software."