You're inside a replica cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, hurtling through space. You're surrounded by comets, planets, stars and the sounds of TIE fighters and X-wing starfighters. The craft jumps to lightspeed, and your seat literally vibrates as you accelerate to the edge of the universe. It's not a movie or a dream. It's Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination. This special traveling exhibit, which made its debut at the Museum of Science in Boston in October 2005, marks the debut of Bose® 3Space™ audio systems.

Bose created this first-of-its-kind 3D sound system for the full-size replica of the Millennium Falcon cockpit from Episode IV. The challenge was to develop an extraordinary museum experience while creating an exceptionally spacious soundstage.

The audio track for the simulated journey had to be perceived as coming from both inside and outside the cockpit, at any angle. This was accomplished with speaker arrays integrated into each flight chair, additional speakers positioned elsewhere around the cockpit and proprietary signal processing. Twin bass modules were also incorporated into the system to deliver low frequencies.

The Bose team overcame two additional major hurdles in creating this 3D audio experience. One was preserving the authentic style of the Millennium Falcon cockpit chairs. The other was designing acoustic components into the chairs while maintaining their structural integrity.

Development also included the sound track for the four-minute multimedia experience, using a dedicated 3Space system content authoring tool. Bose sound design engineers transformed everyday sounds, like thunder and voices, into convincing spaceship audio effects. They made the sound effects and music multidimensional, then choreographed them with video and narration to match what visitors see and hear.

Bose proprietary 3Space systems were developed to provide listeners with a new type of three-dimensional audio experience previously unavailable with commercial surround sound systems. They deliver the perception of sound all around you, even where there are no physical speakers. Innovative Bose technologies make it possible to perceive sound from essentially any direction—from very near to several meters away. The systems also offer exciting 4D tactile effects, like vibrations or wind, that can further enhance special audio experiences like the Star Wars exhibit.

The Star Wars exhibit will travel to museums across the United States through October 2008. Thousands of people will have the opportunity to experience the new 3Space audio system in the Falcon's replica cockpit.

Tour Schedule
The new touring exhibit, Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, marks the public debut of Bose 3Space audio systems. Experience the new 3Space system for yourself in the exhibit's replica cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. Please check with the specific museum to confirm tour dates.
• Fort Worth Museum of Science & History, Fort Worth, TX	June 2007 – August 2007
• Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, IL	October 2007 – December 2007
• The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA	February 2008 – April 2008
• Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN	June 2008 – October 2008