This guy has spent a lot of time and money working out the kinks in his setup. So far it looks great.

http://www.fighterops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7965

I put a bit of thought into a dome projection system as well (not for any time in the near future--something for a year or more from now). I see that the poster in the above link went from thinking about a dome projection system to a "cylindrical" surround projection system. Here is a half-dome projection system that is already on the market, and puts those concepts outlined by Paul Bourke into use (projector beam reflected off of a half-dome mirror). It costs about $1600 total, but you get cropping of pixels in the periphery:

http://gizmodo.com/5346769/half-dome-screen-wraps-games-and-movies-around-you

http://thinkoutofbox.com/index.html

The TOOB system appears to just use a sectioned fiberglass dome (which I am assuming from the copper-colored gel-coat outer surface of the dome--see the photo section of the TOOB website), which you could find online at sites like Fiberglass Specialties. Theoretically, if the inside of the dome was smoothed out and painted with a projection-compatible paint (to prevent hot-spotting and give adequate contrast), you may be able to build your own from scratch. Of course, with something like this you would be limited by what you can actually get through the doors of your house--and these things are heavy (perhaps an acrylic dome would be lighter--but you may be limited to smaller sizes):

http://www.fiberglassspecialties.com/domesindex.asp


To be honest, I would be more interested in building a vertically-oriented dome projection system using only one projector, like the "Gundam POD" arcade systems in the Far East. However, I am really worried about the issue of image warping. I do not really know if I want to mess around with warping software (like Sol7); perhaps using a spherical/aspheric lens or lens combination from one of the scientific supply companies (like ThorLabs) will provide the warping without an additional software layer, kind of like the lens used in Immersive Display Solution's "Omnifocus" projection system:

http://www.immersivedisplayinc.com/ProjectionSolutions.html

An additional advantage of this is that you would have just one projector to worry about. With this method, it may be possible to create your own "Gundam POD" style simulation cockpit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ7g-uzHufc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_2gY1csY_s

However, this is all just speculation on my part--I have no idea if it will work--especially the optics of the spherical/aspherical lens. Anyone interested would definitely want to talk to a projection expert first before sinking the cash into this. If somebody wants to take the plunge, though, post your findings and recommendations--it will help out others considering this solution It would be awesome to combine this with a nVidia 3D-Vision compatible projector.

zazoo