A new space themed immersive experience at the UK’s National Space Centre in Leicester finds visitors accidentally on a rescue mission to Mars. The team must work together to retrieve important research, survive disaster and return to Earth.
Tetrastar Spaceport is a permanent installation that combines immersive theatre, actors, realistic set design, projection mapping, spatial audio, real-time interactive content, motion seats and hands-on interactives with immersive storytelling. The 300m2 experience plays out across four main zones with ten additional themed spaces accommodating four concurrent 20-strong groups. Eleven projectors, 47 screens, 45 loudspeakers, 50 media servers and computers, and 15k mapped video are blended into the intricate set, and woven together by a family friendly, space themed narrative.
The mission is supported by pre-recorded characters in the media, real-world performers and an ADA artificial intelligence platform. Visitors take part in an escape room style experience, where they must retrieve valuable specimens and power up the Tetrabank with Tetracells to ensure they have enough energy to get back to Earth in an escape pod.
The attraction design and creation were led by the National Space Centre’s in-house immersive production studio NSC Creative, working with a team of UK experts including ABC AV and Audiologic. NSC Creative provided overall project management and creative direction, along with specialist immersive A/V integration and all story, content and performance production.
‘Tetrastar is like a mini science centre packaged into one exhibition,’ says ABC AV, CEO Andy Bates. ‘The complexity of the show control and A/V system is next level to ensure every mission goes successfully even if the participants don’t always achieve their objectives. Every action triggers a response and feeds into a scoring system that gives a unique outcome and award at the end of each mission to encourage repeat visits.’
‘The system required loudspeakers to blend in with the futuristic aesthetic, making the K-array ecosystem an obvious choice,’ says Audiologic Application Support Engineer, Anna Shahin. ‘The Kobra KK52, KK102s and Rumble KU210 subwoofers make up an immersive 7.2-channel surround sound system in the Tharis One spacecraft room, and Vyver KV52s and Rumble KU26 create a 5.1 experience in the Transporter. KF26 Domino speakers throughout the rest of the space to provide full-range audio to accompany the rescue mission.
‘The National Space Centre has a Q-Sys Core 510i running other systems on-site, and its available DSP headroom and open architecture platform made this the best choice to run Tetrastar Spaceport. Due to the expansive custom audio requirements, a media drive and multitrack player upgrade was added to the processor as part of the new system.’
ABC AV led the A/V, lighting and show control systems design and integration of the media rich experience. ‘Working with Simon, Anna, Diogo and the other engineers at Audiologic made perfect sense because they knew the entire product offerings across the K-array, Innosonix and Q-Sys ranges and they were able to balance the right mix of products and features required, while still fitting in the project budget,’ says ABC AV CEO, Andy Bates.
‘Also, the simple integration of control of the Q-Sys Core processors with the Medialon Show Controller made integrating it all together a relative breeze. I’m very proud of our involvement in this project and think it is an incredibly special immersive and educational space.
2B Heard assisted with initial room designs using K-framework 3D Modelling software, followed by proof-of-concept demonstrations as well as attending site to commission the simulator speakers system. ‘The combination of K-array’s slim true line array systems coupled with their amazing performance led to a system that both visually and acoustically perfectly matched system to project,’ says 2BHeard Limited Director, Dave Wooster.
The £2.88m project, Extended Reality for new Audiences, also includes a new Reality Lab teaching about space and a XR infused Community Engagement Programme at the National Space Centre. It was supported by the Inspiring Science Fund – a partnership between the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Wellcome, as well as the Local Growth Fund from Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP), The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, The Garfield Weston Foundation and Fidelity UK Foundation.
