Published on: 2026-09-28
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
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Modern technologies have reached a high level of development and are widely used in various fields — from construction and medicine to visual arts. Theatrical stages and exhibition spaces become places that unite the classical art of artists, actors, and directors with innovative developments.
There are special places in Moscow — museums and theaters that literally transport you to another reality. There, the unfulfilled dream of sitting at the helm of a spaceship and setting off for the stars can come true in an instant, and the desire to observe planets as if they were very close can be realized immediately. You can see huge volumetric paintings and holographic magical worlds appearing through smoke and laser flashes. All this, which recently seemed like a fiction from science fiction films and books, has now become reality. We tell you what technologies are used in Museum of Cosmonautics, Moscow Planetarium and on the stage “Pokrovka. Theater”.
Space simulator and movie theater on the ceiling
In the Museum of Cosmonautics, modern technologies are harmoniously woven into the multimedia concept of the space. They reflect the stages of development of the space industry and help to learn about new discoveries. Visitors can feel the magic of flight thanks to the interactive simulator “Orion.” It creates the sensation of being in open space: just put on 3D glasses, take the control stick in your hands, and the journey begins. Another way to get to a space station is the interactive game “I control the satellite.” On a screen with built-in motion sensors, a satellite is displayed that responds to the player’s hand waves and changes its flight trajectory.
A dome screen equipped with the “Stellarium” software providing high-quality images with a diameter of six meters has been created in the Planetarium of the Museum of Cosmonautics. In this hall, films “Rising Star” and “Supermassive Black Holes” are shown, which help schoolchildren study astronomy and adults learn new facts about the structure of the cosmos. Stars and asteroids, satellites and other galaxies appear right before your eyes, making it seem as if you could reach out and touch them.
Video screens are installed in the key halls. They allow virtual tours of spacecraft and stations, displaying animations and diagrams that explain complex technologies.
Digital projections, lasers, and surround sound
The Moscow Planetarium has created the most advanced systems for immersion into cosmic reality. In the Large Star Hall, a “Universarium M9” projector is installed. Thanks to optical fibers connected to each of the nine thousand stars, they appear as real as in the night sky. The system reproduces astronomical phenomena over a large time span, showing the sky both from orbit and as it was tens of thousands of years ago. It is complemented by a full-dome digital projection—a series of projectors arranged around the dome’s perimeter. They allow combining a static picture of the starry sky with dynamic digital graphics. In the Large Star Hall, visitors can watch films on a 25-meter full-dome screen, embark on journeys to explore the Solar System, other galaxies, and black holes. The immersion effect is enhanced by an experimental spatial sound system.
Another innovative development is the 4D cinema. In addition to dynamic seats, it features water sprays, wind, and even scents — all of which make the immersion deeper.
In the two-level interactive space “Lunarium,” exhibits are created using modern technologies, allowing visitors to model natural physical phenomena with high precision. The combination of various technologies — fiber-optic projection, digital graphics, sound, and interactive zones — makes the Moscow Planetarium one of the leaders in the development of the scientific and educational field.
Holograms, LEDs, and projections
The theater sphere is also actively implementing innovations. At “Pokrovka. Theatre,” multimedia infrastructure is being developed for productions. The main mission of the theater is not just to interpret the texts of the classics, but also to experiment with formats. Performances are accompanied by music, and visual effects erase the usual barriers between the stage space and the audience.
A professional team led by artist Maria Gutkova is working on the scenography at “Pokrovka. Theater.” She spoke about the technologies of the future.
— What technologies and developments do you use when creating decorations? Are screens with images a new alternative to the classic backdrop?
— Perhaps, the easiest way here is to explain by example “Anna Karenina”, because in this performance we practically abandoned traditional decoration entirely and assembled the scenography as a unified multimedia system. Technically, this is not a screen with video on the backdrop. The image exists simultaneously on several physical planes — due to this, it gains depth.
The lower plane is a Uniview Beon P6 LED gaming surface with a six-millimeter pixel pitch. It is a full-fledged stage surface: performers work here, and the image literally exists beneath the figure of the performer. The upper plane is a transparent Diamond P20 LED mesh with a 20-millimeter pixel pitch. It acts as a digital ceiling. The transparent mesh does not turn into a heavy LED cover: light, smoke, and the stage architecture remain visible through it, so the image can appear above the performer and then dissolve back into the space.
— How important is image quality to you?
— When I am specifically asked about screen resolution, I usually clarify that in the stage multimedia environment, the concepts of 4K or 8K are not always a sufficient description of the system. We work with non-standard surfaces, so the physical geometry, pixel pitch, and native pixel map of a specific assembly are important. The content is originally created for the actual raster of each surface and then merged into a single stage coordinate system. We do not take a regular 16:9 format video and stretch it onto the set.
— What is projection scenography?
— We use a translucent projection screen, a so-called liquid organza, and work simultaneously with both front and rear projections. The image is built on both sides of the material, and the performer is physically inside the picture. Due to the transparency of the screen, precise adjustment of black levels and light, the viewer stops perceiving the carrier itself and sees several layers at once: the figure of the performer, the foreground visual plane, and the space behind it.
A separate layer is a holographic effect based on the dispersion of the light flow. Here, the image does not have the usual wall or LED surface: light interacts with the dispersive medium, smoke, and stage fog, and the projection and laser form the image directly in the volume of the stage. This effect is especially interesting to me in “Anna Karenina”: at first, the viewer does not expect anything to appear in the empty dark space, but after a second, light geometry, movement, the image of a train, or another visual structure emerges there. The impression that a projector has been turned on does not arise; rather, it feels like the very space has acquired another dimension.
— What role does laser play in the scenography of “Pokrovka. Theatre”?
— Our laser doesn’t work as a separate concert effect. In a properly prepared smoky environment, the beam becomes a visible architecture—a line, a plane, a perspective, sometimes almost a physical object. That’s why a railway can first exist as a real rail object, then as light, then as graphics, and almost as an immaterial image.
Also, the stage features a rail system with motorized carriages. It is designed for moving screens, objects, and lighting compositions, with a pulling capacity of up to 350 kilograms. Additionally, a multi-point kinetic winch is used to lower the LED cube. For me, it was essential not to conceal all the machinery. We left part of the mechanisms exposed and made them an artistic element — a technique more commonly seen at large concert and show venues than in intimate dramatic scenography.
— How do such techniques affect the viewer’s perception? Which of them are your favorites for dialogue with the viewer through multimedia — thermal imagers or something else?
— Probably, my favorite technique is not specifically a thermal imager, Kinect, or any other sensor. I’m more interested in the principle itself, where multimedia ceases to be pre-recorded and begins to live together with the person.
I really love 360-degree immersion, but for me the ultimate goal of such a scale is not to distance the viewer from the artist, but, on the contrary, to bring them as close as possible. You can build a huge digital environment around a person, but as a result, give the viewer the opportunity to feel the movement of the hand, the gaze, the body temperature, the breath of the performer much more sharply than in ordinary scenography. We use this technique in the play “The Flight of Time.”
In my opinion, the viewer is not the final consumer of the finished work at all: it continues inside of them. The authors create the work, and the viewer processes it internally — from this emerges a new understanding.
— How do you see the future of modern theater? What other technologies would you like to implement?
— For me, the future of theater definitely does not lie in digital triumphing over analog. On the contrary, I believe that the faster technology develops, the more precious live human presence will become.
In “The Race of Time,” I came up with a phrase that I constantly return to: theater dies at the moment of its birth. It is impossible to preserve a performance in its entirety. Even if tomorrow the same actors, the same text, the same lighting change, and the same video file are present — it will already be a different evening: the person has changed, the audience has changed, the pause is different, a different connection has arisen. And that is precisely why I do not want technology to replace theater. I am much more interested in the idea that alongside the classical theatrical tradition, a new one is now forming — multimedia.
Learn about performances, concerts, exhibitions, and other interesting events on the official channels of “Mosbilet” at “Makse” and in Telegram.
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