FUTURE Bathurst Winter Festivals could be out of this world if council's hopes of adding a new high-tech attraction come to fruition.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Councillor Jess Jennings recently joined Bathurst Regional Council general manager David Sherley and cultural and community services director Alan Cattermole at a demonstration of the Big Skies production at Sydney's University of Technology.
Developed by David Clarkson, Big Skies utilises three-dimensional interactive hologram technology that provides a "fully immersive experience" for participants.
Guests enter a room where they find themselves in the midst of realistic 3D animations that creators can apply to any theme.
The Big Skies production that the Bathurst delegation enjoyed is an intergalactic experience designed to thrill and inform.
"It took us on a virtual tour of the solar system, which really feels like you are literally flying through the universe, dodging stars and planets as you go," Cr Jennings said.
"Then we were brought back down to earth deep into a serene Australian bush landscape with native animals all around and heaps of surprise visitors to see how the 3D interactivity really works. We also toured a natural watering hole and experienced a 3D bushfire.
"Audiences can control bunches of flying butterflies, flocks of birds and all sorts of abstract imagery like miniature moons that participants can play a kind of tennis with and manipulate waves of snowball-like pixels and all sorts of graphics.
"Having a six-year old daughter, I know kids would totally love this experience, as well as the big kid in all of us."
Cr Jennings said the experience would be an ideal addition to the Bathurst Winter Festival, but he concedes it would be a costly exercise.
He hopes other councils and Destination NSW will come on board to create a regional tour for the production to help share the financial burden.
"Getting this to Bathurst would be a great economic boost and refresh our Winter Festival," he said.
"David [Clarkson] has a real passion for bringing this to regional areas and I would like to see it involve councils from Lithgow to Dubbo and even further to share it around."
A regionalised version of the display would be housed in a Digital Dome that can hold 40-100 people at a time.
Do you want more Bathurst news?
- Sign up now for our free morning headlines and breaking news emails