Had an extraordinary experience watching Darren Aronofsky’s Postcard From Earth at The Sphere Las Vegas!
You think you have seen it all and entertainment venues / experiences can’t really surprise you anymore… and then you visit the Sphere. And you realise that technology and immersion can really surprise you in a way you never thought possible.
Some technical aspects of the Sphere
So the Sphere is a 366 feet (112 m) high and 516 feet (157 m) wide (at its broadest point) sphere. It is the largest spherical building in the world at 875,000 sq ft (81,300 m2). It includes a peak seating capacity of 17,500 people. Approx 10,000 of the seats have physical haptik feedback technology built in. Sphere has 8 levels of seating.
The Sphere is actually 2 spheres. The internal sphere & the exosphere with a gap in between.
The Exosphere
The venue’s exosphere is lit by approximately 1.23 million LED pucks, each with 48 diodes that can display 256 million different colours, featuring 580,000 sq ft (54,000 m2) of LED display, transforming the exterior into a monumental billboard.
The Interior Dome
The internal sphere is equipped with a 16K resolution 270degree wraparound LED screen, measuring 160,000 sq ft (15,000 m2). It is the largest and highest-resolution LED screen in the world. Both the interior and exterior screens have been manufactured by SACO Technologies, a Canadian company specialising in LED video displays and lighting.
Sphere features a spatial audio system (vectorised audio) based on Holoplot’s X1 speaker module, which uses beamforming and wave field synthesis technologies and is equipped with 96 drivers each. The sound system comprises 1,600 X1 speakers that are installed behind the LED panels, along with 300 mobile modules, for a total of 167,000 speaker drivers. The sound system also can deliver sound through the floorboards. Additional features of scent and wind are used as well.
The Sphere was designed by Populous, a global design firm specialising in stadiums and large-scale event venues. The Sphere ultimately cost $2.3 billion to build.
The Lobby
The Lobby / Atrium of the Sphere is populated with a few interesting pieces of tech – first there are a couple of AI-enabled interactive robots (which I found VERY VERY creepy, I must say!). Then there is a massive holographic-looking display, which is great to see from a distance. And the third is the demo of the vectorised spatial audio, which is deployed inside the sphere which is very very cool!
Inside the Internal Dome
So, with proper advance planning and asking a couple of people I know who had been to the Sphere earlier, I knew which seats to book. So I ended up booking the Director’s Seat experience, where the seats are in a zone which is smack-bang in the centre of the dome – both horizontally & vertically. And I am so so glad I did it, because as many people told me later – those are the best seats to enjoy the show from.
On entering the dome, the first thing that takes you aback is the height… and the scale. It is a movie-theatre unlike any other… and it really WOWs you at first sight…
The Show – Postcard from Earth
As the show starts, initially it starts off in the wide-screen framed content box that you see above… and then at a particular time, a few minutes into the show, as a part of the narrative, the content transforms into wrap-around mode. That was a completely spectacular moment, which collected a cumulative gasp of wonder from the entire audience.
The show carries on… with some STUNNING STUNNING visuals!
All in all, it was an absolutely brilliant experience. Andrew Shulkind – who shot the project deserves major kudos and a big standing ovation.
This show is a MUST-VISIT for everyone who makes their way to Las Vegas. Plan in advance, try and book the Directors Seat Experience and you’ll have an absolute audio-visual treat!!!
P.S. Of-course, I couldn’t resist trying to figure out where the live-sound console of the Sphere was and what kind of setup it had… Luckily, it was just below where I was seated…
Very Cool