Cinerama was the brain child of motion picture engineer Fred Waller. His work at the Paramount studios in the 1930s led him to the understanding that a sense of depth and realism could be achieved by a wide curved screen that included the viewer's peripheral vision. His first experiments were with a battery of eleven 16mm cameras and projectors that photographed a hemispherical image. The system was refined to five cameras and projectors and was credited with saving thousands of fliers' lives in World War II as the "Waller Gunnery Trainer." For more information on Fred Waller and Cinerama, visit the American Widescreen Museum  Scientific or Technical Awards (Class I) 1953: For designing and developing the multiple photographic and projection systems which culminated in Cinerama. Winner presented a Statuette. 1 Scientific/Technical Award