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Ed is a futurist engineer, entrepreneur, developer and immersive experience designer making a positive impact.
Ed is an immersive media entrepreneur, engineer, producer and experience designer. Ed left aerospace engineering in 1990 to transform traditional planetariums into immersive visualization environments, designing over a dozen digital dome theaters including Egypt’s Library of Alexandria Planetarium, Domodigital at Papalote Museo del Niño in Mexico City, and the National Space Centre in Leicester, UK. His company Vortex Immersion develops immersive media venues and experiences, both real and virtual, and seeks to develop a network of immersive entertainment complexes. Ed sees modern digital domes as “digital temples of transformation” for their ability to deliver compelling immersive journeys, live performances and art experiences with positive impact while serving as local creative placemaking centers.
Ed believes in the power of art to facilitate positive transformation on personal, local and global scales. He has directed, produced and supported numerous live participatory events combining theater, dance, music and immersive projections. James Hood’s Mesmerica and Beautifica, produced in cooperation with Moodswings and Bridge Arts Media, have screened in over 50 digital domes and sold over 700,000 tickets in North America. The films offer visitors a journey into their own mind while evoking a sense of happiness and gratitude.
Ed holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering with minor in Quantum Physics from Tennessee Tech, and studied comparative religions at the School of Sacred Ministry in Doylestown, PA. He has chaired the boards of non-profit arts organizations including Create Now and c3: Center for Conscious Creativity, serves as a Board Delegate on the Producers Guild of America’s New Media Council, is Chair Emeritus of LA ACM SIGGRAPH, is co-founder of IMERSA, a trade association focused on immersive media for entertainment, research, science and arts, is Board Chair for Dome Fest West, North America’s premier dome film festival, and is Chair of MPAI’s XR Venues standards effort.
Vortex Immersion creates awe-inspiring 360-degree multisensory experiences including dome venues and immersive programming including visual/musical journeys, live performances and wellness experiences.
Projects include the Vortex Dome, the first immersive media studio, innovation lab and event space in downtown LA, located on the Los Angeles Center Studios. Shows include Bollywood musical BollyDoll with singer/artist Amrita Sen and composer Anthony Marinelli; Blue Apple, a ballet by Stefan Wenta; Sokamba’s Petrichor; concerts by musician Steve Roach plus Robot Prayers, both featuring the work of immersive artist Audri Phillips. The Vortex Dome also served as a virtual production stage, hosting film and television productions such as 60 Minutes, Top Floor pilot for MTV, Season 5 of Castle, and the Family Feud music video with Beyoncé and JZ.
Other artists served include Childish Gambino, Skrillex, Diplo and DJ Snake. Immersive 4D theaters include Adult Swim’s Meatwad Experience, NBC Universal’s Constantine, and EMC2’s tradeshow dome. Custom immersive venues have been created for Pepsi, IBM, Microsoft, Nokia, Stella Artois, Nike, LA Times, iHeart Radio, Archer Aerospace and the Holodome for Paul Allen’s Vulcan. Dome venues by Vortex range from 8m to over 60m in diameter, hosting up to 4000 attendees.
Vortex utilizes the power of XR technologies to offer deeper, more meaningful arts and entertainment experiences. Their social impact programming is designed to elevate moods, open hearts and minds and evoke a sense of awe and wonder. Productions include James Hood’s successful dome shows Mesmerica and Beautifica with over 700,000 tickets sold to date. Shows in production include Michael & Jahna’s The Journey and David Arkenstone’s Luminarius. The company has a slate of over 30 immersive shows ready for production, and is developing a next-gen AI studio and an ecosystem of branded, ticketed immersive media destination venues.