IMAX advertises as the "world's most immersive movie experience," but its various formats offer different levels of immersion. One lesser-known format is the IMAX Dome, formerly called OMNIMAX, which provides a 180° field of view using a fisheye lens on a domed ceiling that can stretch nearly 100 feet in diameter. Unlike standard vertical IMAX screens, Dome theaters are typically found at science museums and educational centers, often playing nature documentaries rather than Hollywood blockbusters. The first film shot specifically for this format was the 1973 short documentary Garden Isle.

Locations with IMAX Dome theaters include La Geode in France, the Speyer Technik Museum in Germany, the Swedish Museum of Natural History, the China Science & Technology Museum, the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, and in the US at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the Cincinnati Museum Center, and the Saint Louis Science Center. While less common, Christopher Nolan films like Oppenheimer and The Odyssey have been shown in some Dome locations. The experience is distinct from flat-screen IMAX, offering a more enveloping but less cinematic view, often tied to museum field trip memories.