Research Projects
Darkness Matters the fulldome / VR experience
A fulldome and VR documentary offering a meditative journey through natural darknesses, olive groves, forests, and Alpine meadows, revealing a light-pollution-free world where fireflies, hedge-hogs, owls, wolves, ibexes and stars coexist in an other-than-human perspective.
Light pollution, the human-made alteration of natural night light, disrupts wildlife, harms health, wastes energy, contributes to climate change, and hides the universe. Today, 89% of the world’s population lives under light-polluted skies; the Milky Way is invisible to 60% of Europeans and 80% of North Americans. Most people live in Bortle Class 5 or worse, where few stars are visible, and by 2050, many cities may have completely washed-out skies. Darkness Matters explores how darkness sustains ecosystems and perception. Through meditative, immersive imagery, it celebrates nocturnal and crepuscular habitats. Using a camera system able to reproduce animal vision across multiple colour channels, it reveals how other species perceive light. Complementing this, a RED Raptor system captures authentic 8K detail and 60 fps motion, ensuring flexible remapping for dome configurations and projection geometries, achieving an image fidelity rarely seen in immersive cinema. The journey follows altitudinal zones: from olive groves glowing with fireflies to hedgehogs and wolves roaming forests, and ibexes on Alpine rocks, culminating in the Milky Way arching above the peaks.
25 minutes long, the time our eyes need to fully adapt to darkness, the film invites to stillness.
Aim and research questions
Darkness Matters co-creates immersive multimedia experiences—360° audiovisuals for fulldome, VR, and exhibition spaces—addressing urgent, underrepresented environmental crises. The project represents ecosystems filling the nocturnal vault, including crepuscular and nocturnal animals. Adaptable across formats, this meditative experience invites audiences to reconsider their relationship with darkness, light, and sound pollution. The work explores how, and if, technology can offer truthful representations, testing its role in shaping creative expression and documentary practice.
As project leader, I sought equal collaboration with artists, scientists, field workers, local communities, technology, and nature. The project redefines documentary's identity beyond indexicality, rooting it in today's technocultures while questioning authenticity and truth.
In partnership with biologists Dan-Eric Nilsson (Lund University) and Daniel Hanley (George Mason University), we employed novel camera systems replicating animal vision across chromatic and perceptual ranges, offering an other-than-human perspective.
Our research questions: How can art drive transformation? Which approaches foster engagement that lands into stronger policymaking and constructive work with stakeholders? Darkness Matters builds synergies between art, science, technology, and the communities it co-creates with—to preserve the past, record the present, and envision the future
Research implementation and anticipated impact
The research was carried out through workshops among the interested disciplines. Its progress was shown regularly during research weeks and artistic research related events as a WIP, but not only: exhibitions spaces opened up to show the WIP and I have been publishing one article on VIS#12 in October 2024, with one more on ArteActa in 2026, depicting specifically the work with the fireflies. In June 2025 and September 2025 Darkness Matters was presented respectively at the ARE in Sofia Bulgaria (FilmEU conference) and in a final public symposium at the Hugarflug conference in Reykjavik, Iceland. 2026 it was released in its final format, thanks to the commitment or intent of many Swedish and European planetaria so far to show the outcome. Through the collaboration with Vetenskapens Hus it will be disseminated to the surrounding society presenting the research outcome in their inflatable dome also in schools and other venues. 2026 it was uploaded on Diva and with a link to our website on the Research Catalogue
Collaboration
Dedicated to my son, Elias Theodor Lindström, my family and vanishing eco-systems. This project is only possible thanks to the financial contribution of: Fellonica Film AB: Lars G Lindström; Swedish Film Institute: Anna Weitz Jenny Örnborn; Stockholm University of the Arts; KTH NAVET Centre for Research in Art, Technology and Design: Roberto Bresin; Konstnärsnämnden; Comune di Calci: Valentina Ricotta and Massimiliano Ghimenti; Fondazione San Paolo with Sideralis asp and CRAS Bernezzo: Federico Pellegrino; C.M. Lerici Foundation; Italian Cultural Institute of Stockholm: Francesco Di Lella.
The invaluable work of Irene Borgna Federico Pellegrino Oliver Akermo Sebastian Dahlgren Fabio Falchi, author of the World Atlas of Light Pollution and Roberto Morbidelli, astrophysicist at INAF.
The invaluable work of the crew, who worked on and presentend the flatscreen version, promoting the fulldome version Alex d'Emilia, Santifanti, Nicola Gualandris, Naomi Galbiati, Nils Fridén, Luca Cappelli, Franco Veloz, Crosscuts KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory, Pinerolo Film Festival.
The institutions that supported us with deals, commitments, endorsement opportunities and patronage: m:brane: Annette Brejner Lennart Ström; DarkSky International: Ruskin Hartley, Sarah Martin, Drew Reagan; ESFA European Science Film Association: Christine Reisen and Neal Hartman; CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Progetto LUCE: Emiliano Mori, Malayka Picchi, Alessandro Lagrotteria; Accelerator: Richard Julin; WIRE summit ARExhibition FilmEU - European University and Hugarflug Conference and its Organizers at the Iceland University of the Arts; CAI - Club Alpino Italiano
+ with particular engagement Sezione di Cuneo: Paolo Salsotto and Sezione di Pisa: Sergio Gaglioti; Enrico Collo; Rifugio Gardetta: Paolo Belli; Rifugio Fauniera: Marco Vittori
Inkind Investors: Tekniska museet: Lisa Hellmark, Mattias Desac, Jesper Wallerborg; Aree Protette Alpi Marittime: Armando Erbì, Luca Gautero, Giorgio Bernardi, Stefania Rivelli, James Beauchamp; Ljud & Bildmedia BT AB: Daniel Thisell; Audio-Technica Distributed Brands Europe; InfraVis: Björn Thuresson, Fabio Latino, Mario Romero, Julius Häger.
Distributors who believe in the project: Vetenskapens Hus (KTH/Stockholms universitet); Visualiseringscenter C: Lisa Lindgren, Anna Öst; Wisdome Malmö: Mats Fastrup, Louise Andersson; British Planetaria Association (BPA): Steven Gray; Infini.to: Emanuele Balboni, Eleonora Monge; Naturhistoriska riksmuseet Cosmonova: Cristian Norlin; Zeiss-Großplanetarium Berlin: Tim Florian Horn; Reef Distribution GmbH: Dr. Peter Popp; Naturmuseum und Planetarium Südtirol: David Gruber and Sabina Bernhard; InfinityDome Lübeck Germany: Sebastian Häger, Thomas Hailer.
The invaluable advise of ecologists and biologists: Kevin Gaston, Dan-E Nilsson, and Daniel Hanley Karolinska Institutet’s The Division of Eye and Vision, Dept of Physiological Optics (Alberto Dominguez Vicent and Abinaya Priya Venkataram)
Research funding
Funded by Fellonica Film, Lars G Lindström (SFI quality grant) and Costanza Julia Bani; SKH, internal research funds and travel grants; KTH NAVET, Small Visionary Project and Thematic Working Group; The Swedish Arts Grants Committee; Swedish Film Institute development and production grant; Comune di Calci; Fondazione San Paolo with Sideralis and CRAS Bernezzo; the IIC Italian Cultural Institute in Stockholm and the C.M. Lerici Foundation
Schedule
2022–2026
