Grantecan Visitor Experience
Exploring the telescope through immersive experience
How do you make the world’s largest optical telescope feel accessible? At the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), we bridged the gap between complex astrophysics and the general public by creating a immersive visitor experience. The show is led by Gara, a robotic host custom-built by the GTC team to "converse" with the telescope and guide guests through its daily operations.
For y=f(x), the challenge was to engineer the software layer that brought this interaction to life. We developed a bespoke system to integrate Gara into the live performance, handling spatial tracking and processing live camera and thermal feeds from the robot into the show's visuals. By translating high-level scientific data into these interactive moments, we transformed a complex technical environment into a tangible, human-scale conversation.
For y=f(x), the challenge was to engineer the software layer that brought this interaction to life. We developed a bespoke system to integrate Gara into the live performance, handling spatial tracking and processing live camera and thermal feeds from the robot into the show's visuals. By translating high-level scientific data into these interactive moments, we transformed a complex technical environment into a tangible, human-scale conversation.
Gran Telescopio Canarias
Gran Canaria, ES
Immersive Experience
2025
Rogier van Ostaijen, Roy Gerritsen, Tim Gerritsen, Max Lahr, Jakob Povel
