The starting point for Wisdome was a commemorative donation from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, which made it possible for Wisdome to now have dome theaters in five locations across Sweden. But it is thanks to many years of research in scientific visualization at Visualiseringscenter C and Linköping University that the initiative became a reality.
We meet Wisdome’s founder, Anders Ynnerman, who shares the journey that led to what Wisdome is today:
“I came to Norrköping in 1999, when I was appointed professor at the Department of Science and Technology at Linköping University. It was a newly established campus with high ambitions, and it aimed to make scientific visualization a strategic focus area.
The research progressed rapidly, and Norrköping quickly gained international recognition in the field of visualization. Many young talents were drawn to the city, and the department grew.”
“Today, there are eight units within the Division for Media and Information Technology, working with research and development in various areas of visualization. The research spans topics such as fundamental visualization and computer graphics, image analysis, artificial intelligence, interaction design, and immersive visualization. We also focus on exploring how visualization impacts learning.”
Based on this visualization research, Visualiseringscenter C was established in 2010 as a collaborative platform and meeting place with exhibitions and lab environments. The short distance between basic research and real-world application in a public setting makes Visualiseringscenter C unique—something that all of Wisdome benefits from today.
“We don’t just want to showcase the finished result—we also want to explain how we gather data and how we create visual representations from it. By combining storytelling with the visual experience, we create strong conditions for reaching and engaging our audience.”
Grounded in its own research and multidisciplinary teams, Visualiseringscenter C has continued to push the boundaries of what’s possible with technology and has been producing dome content since 2010. It is this foundation of experience that earned Visualiseringscenter C the trust to produce the popular science dome productions within the Wisdome initiative today.