Ed Lantz is an entrepreneur, entertainment technology engineer, producer and immersive experience designer. Ed left aerospace engineering in 1990 to transform old-style planetariums into immersive visualization environments, designing over a dozen dome theaters worldwide including the Library of Alexandria’s Planetarium in Egypt, Domodigital at Papalote Museo del Niño in Mexico City, and the National Space Centre planetarium in Leicester, UK. His company Vortex Immersion Media produces immersive and interactive experiences for Fortune 500 brands, top artists and audiences worldwide and is developing a network of branded immersive venues.
Ed believes in the power of art to facilitate positive transformation on personal, local and global scales. He sees modern digital domes as “digital temples of transformation” for their ability to combine art and science to create compelling immersive journeys, performances and experiences with positive impact. Ed has directed, produced and supported numerous live participatory events combining theater, dance, music and immersive projections. Vortex’s latest shows, James Hood’s Mesmerica and Beautifica, produced in cooperation with Moodswings and Poseidon, have screened in over 50 digital domes and sold over 600,000 tickets in North America. The films offer visitors a poetically narrated visual/musical journey into their own consciousness while evoking a powerful sense of awe.
Ed holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering with minor in Quantum Physics and Electromagnetics from Tennessee Tech University. He studied comparative religions at the School of Sacred Ministry in Doylestown, PA culminating in ordination as an Interfaith Minister in 2000. Ed has chaired the boards of non-profit arts organizations including Create Now and c3: Center for Conscious Creativity, has served two terms as a Board Delegate on the Producers Guild of America’s New Media Council, was the 2019 recipient of the PGA New Media Council 2021 Marc A. Levey Award for Distinguished Service, is Chair Emeritus of LA ACM SIGGRAPH, co-founder of IMERSA, a trade association focused on immersive media for entertainment, research, science and arts and co-founder and Board Chair of Dome Fest West, North America’s premier dome film festival. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from his peers from Dome Fest West.