Way Beyond Lasers

"SonicVision," which opens Oct. 3 at the Hayden
Planetarium in New York, is 35 minutes of soaring, churning and immersive
visualizations set to
a thumping score of techno-electronica and contemporary rock mixed by
the recording artist Moby. A recent test screening revealed vast, surreal
three-dimensional visions that morphed back and forth from the purely
abstract – a kind of kinetic, cosmic tie-dye – to whirling wheeled machines,
seas of blinking human eyes, architectural forms and optical puns. All
of it is computer-generated and none of it involves lasers.

Much of the wow factor of the three-year-old planetarium, which replaced
the original 1935 building, is supplied by a supercomputer that, among
other attributes, harnesses 118 microprocessors.

from
the New York Times