Cine-Globe Theatre

Cine-Globe, the photographic wonder designed to simulate an actual three dimensional scene in the eyes of the viewer, was developed by the U. S. Navy during and after World War II as a training device for aerial gunners.

Conventional flat photrgraphy loses visual reality because the dimension of depth is missing.  The perspective a well as the subjectiveness of the viewer is severely limited.  His field of view is less than his field of vision.  Cine-Globe increases this field of view from the roughly 50 degrees that can be observed on a flat screen to 143 degrees, nearly that of the human eye.

The Office of Naval Rearch, through the Naval Training Devices Center, Port Washington, New York, had overall responsibility for the development of Cine-Globe.  They were assisted by the Kollsman Instrument Corporation of Elmhurst, New York, and the Jam Handy Organization of Detroit, Michigan.

Kollsman produced twelve wide-angle lenses, known officially as "Flexible Aerial Gunnery Trainer Device 3-A-40-C."  The Jam Handy Organization worked with the Naval Traing Devices Center to perfect the required photographic and projection techniques.  As the system was first applied to aerial gunnery training, film that had been taken through the wide angle lens was projected through the same lens on a semi-spherical (dome) screen, much like a planetarium overhead.  The gunnery trainee was then able to simulate his position in an aircraft, and learn to fire at targets coming in from various angles on the screen.  By scientific, psychological testing, it was found that trainee gunners were brought up to the rating of "expert" by the use of this unusually realistic training device.

With the advent of air-to-air missles and radar fire control, visual aerial gunnery all but disappeared from the Navy.  But Cine-Globe continued to find new uses both in the Navy and in commerical motion picture production.  An important Navy use was the training of Naval Aviation Cadets to make carrier landings.  Cine-Globe motion pictures were made of carrier landings with the camera positioned in the front seat of an SNJ-7C aircraft about 20 inches left of pilot center.  This gave a fairly clear field of vision to the viewer, and closely simulated what he saw when coming aboard a carrier for a landing.  An SNJ cockpit was then positioned in the center of a semi-spherical screen, sitting upright on a side, and almost all types of carrier approaches were projected on the screen for the aviation cadet to view prior to his "carrier qualification" runs.  The technique was credited with reduction of accidents involving cadets aboard carriers.

Additional uses of Cine-Globe have included showings by the Atomic Energy Commission at the 1959 World Agricultural Fair in New Delhi, India;  showings at the Seattle World's Fair in 1962;  and, presently, at the Navy School of Aviation Medicine, Pensacola, Florida, under a NASA study for astronauts.

In early 1964, eight Cine-Globe cameras were used by Navy and Marine Corps photographers to shoot new film of Navy and Marine Corps operations for showing at the New York World's Fair.  The lenses were provided by the Naval Training Devices Center and properly aligned on cameras a the Naval Photographic Center, Washington, D.C.  The exact alignment of lenses and camera presented some formidable technical problems.  First, photographic engineers assembled a protype camera, using blueprints and test procedures provided by the Jam Handy Organization.  The Photographic Center machine shop fabricated the mount required to affix the 25 puond 16-inch lens to a Mitchell 35-mm motion picture camera.  An unusual problem inherent in Cine-Globe photography is the sensitivuty of the lens mount to small stresses and temperature changes.  Fastening the camera to a tripod, for instance, can throw it out of focus.  This made it necessary to attach an indicating micrometer to measure the distance between the lens mount and the aperture plate, allowing a check of focus to within .0005 inch.

After testing, the prototype camera was given to the Naval Research Labortary, Washington, D.C., for fabrication of seven additional lens mounts.  To test the cameras, a series of test patterns was set up along a lens axis from five feet to infinity.  Technicians then focused the camera by eye, using a ground glass.  Exposures were made at .001 inch increments to .028 inch at each aperture from f/2.2 to f/11.  The film was viewd through a microscope to determine the smallest test pattern visible at each distance.  These data were then evaluated to determine the point of best focus.  At this point the dial indicator on the micrometer was set at zero, and the camera was ready for use.  The camera were then installed aboard jet aircraft;  were adapted for underwater work on a Polaris submarine;  and were used by mobile photograhic crews on ships, helicopter, landing craft and tanks.

The film taken by these cameras and then projected through the same lens on a semi-spherical wrap-around screen, gives not only the realism of view but a subjective sense of presence and participation in the event.  Visitors to the Navy and Marine Corps Cine-Globe Theatre at the New York World's Fair will find themselves in the pilot's seat of a Navy jet landing on a carrier;  in the turret of a Marine Corps tank;  and witnessing an underwater dive and missle firing from topside on a Polaris submarine.

The lens which made this Cine-Globe possible is, essentially, an eleven optical element, reverse telephoto, wide angle lens that includes the following characteristics:

The lens makes a 0.816-inch diameter circular image, from a 143 degree field angle, on 35-mm standard motion picture film and may be used with almost any standard 35-mm motion picture camera or projector.

Physically, the lens is arranged in two groups of optical elements in aluminum alloy barrel that weighs 25 pounds and is 16 inches long.  The diameter of the barrel is 8.75 inches at the front end and 2.5 inches at the film end.  The front optical element is 7.375 inches in diameter and the film element is 0.75 inch.  The optical elements are coated with magnesium fluoride to reduce reflection and insure maximum light transmission;  adjustments allow focusing to within .0005 inch for optimum viewing.  The original cost of the lenses in possession of the Navy was approximately $6,000 each.