Greece Claims Europe's First DigitalSky

Nashua, NH, USA – 14 January, 2003

The new Eugenides Planetarium in Athens is to feature the SkyVision High-Definition Video Playback and Real-Time DigitalSky systems, Sky-Skan President, Mr. Steve Savage and Eugenides Foundation President, Mr. Leonidas Demetriades-Eugenides announced today.

"I am honored that the Eugenides Foundation should choose to install DigitalSky here in Greece, the place where modern astronomy has its foundations," Mr. Savage said.

Mr. Demetriades-Eugenides said, "Our first theater brought considerable recognition and honor to Greece as a result of its long and distinguished service to the world's Planetarium Community. Great things are expected of this fine institution and our choice to install Sky-Skan equipment in our new theater was made after exhaustive world-wide consultation."

Planning began in 1997 when Eugenides Foundation President the late Nicos Vernikos-Eugenides established a committee to guide the Planetarium into the new millennia. With the building of the new Planetarium nearing completion, the SkyVision and DigitalSky installation will commence in June 2003, and the theater will open to the public in October 2003.

A new theater wing will house a 23.5-degree tilted 24-meter dome. At 290 seats, it will be the largest operational planetarium in Europe.

"The Foundation required a sophisticated environment while still having a sense of magic. That meant one that had an explosive impact during the presentations but without equipment in view," Mr. Savage said. "High- Definition SkyVision using dual projectors will do just that. Our theater design team will ensure that everything disappears into the theater architecture. We look forward to full-dome productions from this theatre being distributed around the world," he said.

Mr. Costas Nestorides, the Foundation’s Administrator commented, "As the premiere institution dealing with astronomy in Greece, we are committed to presenting the highest quality productions to our audiences."

"From the beginning of our planning, the importance of live presentations was paramount in our thinking. DigitalSky has answered that need perfectly. This flexible software will assist in creating spontaneity and real interaction with members of our audience. At the same time, our need for unwavering quality control over theatre brightness, projection integrity and crispness of images has been exceeded by SkyVision." Mr. Dionysios Simopoulos, the Planetarium’s Director said.

The Eugenides Planetarium is the second theater worldwide to utilize the SkyVision dual projection system, joining the Albert Einstein Planetarium in Washington, DC. Consisting of 12 high-performance 9-inch CRT projectors, this dual projection provides crisp, seamless, color-saturated images on the immense dome. This will be Sky-Skan.s 28th SkyVision installation worldwide.

Along with the SkyVision and DigitalSky systems, Sky-Skan will be installing its LED cove lighting system which will illuminate the interior of the dome in vivid, programmable colors, its audience interactive system, and a 32,000 watt 6.1 surround sound system -- all seamlessly controlled using Sky-Skan.s new SPICE 4.0 theater automation system.

For further information contact: Steve Savage, President, Sky-Skan 1-603-880-8500.

More information on SkyVision High-Definition Video & DigitalSky Real-Time systems may be found on the Internet at www.skyskan.com
More information on the Eugenides Planetarium may be found on the Internet at http://www.eugenfound.edu.gr

About Sky-Skan

For over 35 years, Sky-Skan has been the World's leading provider of media technologies and facility design for domed theaters. Sky-Skan's products and services include their trademark SPICE Automation Show Control System, dome screen oriented video and audio systems, specialized image creation software for video and still pictures on domed screens and complete turn-key facility design and construction management services. Sky- Skan has kept its lead in a highly competitive field through continuous R&D and development of industry leading products like the high definition SkyVision Full-Dome Projection System and its latest tool, DigitalSky: a real-time digital star field and graphics system.

There are over 27 SkyVision installations completed to date and over 250 SPICE Theater Automation systems installed in planetaria, large format film theaters, domed media theaters, museums and science centers over the entire world. Recent SkyVision installations include the Museum of Transport and Communication in Lucerne, Switzerland, and the first of its kind dual SkyVision projection system at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. Sky-Skan maintains sales, production facilities and technical support on 3 continents with its offices in Nashua, New Hampshire, USA; Munich, Germany and Melbourne, Australia.