Book part:

Janus 2.0 – God of Fulldome

This article discusses certain perceptual features of the 360° fulldome experience. In order to highlight these features, we will call upon a well known mythological witness: the Roman god Janus. Unlike earthly humans, Janus is equipped with two faces, one looking forward and the other backward. Whereas humans can only see half of their surroundings at a time, Janus perceives and processes all of it, at once, without turning his head. Being unable to not see what is going on behind him qualified Janus to be the guardian of transitions, doors and gateways in ancient Rome. With his two pairs of eyes looking in opposite directions, Janus watched who entered or left the domus, the templum or the pantheon. Janus was also said to be able to view past and future simultaneously. In a contemporary interpretation one might call Janus a symbol of multitasking. One might also say that Janus’ life is one big fulldome festival.