Research and teaching

The Wits Anglo American Digital Dome will support the academic projects of teaching, research, innovation, postgraduate training, education, science engagement and community service, and will serve as a space for digital science exploration and discovery for data-intensive disciplines.

One of the primary aims is to use Digital Dome as an immersive data visualisation facility for research. Following existing international efforts, a pipeline will be implemented to streamline the content flow from research institutions and seamlessly integrate the latest research data to the Digital Dome, offering the audience a unique opportunity to access the latest data in near real-time. Software development between open-source research and Digital Dome tools will be encouraged to obtain the optimal pipeline. Separate GPU-powered computer clusters will be used for public shows, show production, and scientific data visualisation research. Fetching and visualising data sets or simulations into the dome software to foster new postgraduate training opportunities as Honours, MSc, and PhD projects are possible, supplementing existing research through academic publications, MSc, and PhD theses.

It is envisaged that teaching and learning will be through immersion in multi-dimensional, cross-disciplinary areas such as astronomy, climate modelling, biology, paleo sciences, mining, artificial intelligence, and new avenues in the digital arts, making it a place where science, art, and culture intertwine. Various departments can utilise the inbuilt interactive STEAM educational resources for teaching and learning. It is possible to incorporate new resources running in the Unity framework incorporated to the Dome for a three-dimensional perspective of regular teaching aids in different fields.