Now you can hear and see Sphere Las Vegas up close or at home.
To celebrate one year since the Sphere's outdoor “Exosphere” — the world's largest LED screen at 580,000 square feet with 1.2 million LEDs — was turned on, the landmark entertainment venue unveiled three new features on Thursday (July 4): audio , 24-hour live streaming and a fleet of 500 drones.
Sphere demonstrated the technology with Verizon during the Fourth of July celebration last week. The 24-hour live stream, known as XO stream, can be viewed on both YouTube and The Sphere website. (XO plays on the term Exosphere, as the outer surface of the sphere is known.)
Invited by the Sphere, hundreds of viewers and thousands of others online gathered to watch Exosphere's custom show, “America in Six Acts.” The presentation included Independence Day content and a look back at Sphere's first year, including an animated face emoji and concert graphics from U2, Dead & Company and Phish. For the first time, the visuals were synchronized with the music, with Odesza's “A Moment Apart” serving as the opening track.
Sphere Studios, which produces multi-sensory live entertainment experiences for Sphere, created all the content.
“People want to know what's going on at Sphere,” he says Jennifer Koster, president/COO of Sphere Las Vegas. “Inside the building, the multi-sensory experience takes people away. How do we transfer it abroad? This is why we are now introducing audio in sync with the visuals.
“Sphere is a model of innovation and ingenuity,” he adds Jim Dolan, executive chairman/CEO of Sphere Entertainment. “It was a year ago that we watched the Exosphere go live and we didn't know how the public would take it. That night, all traffic stopped and we got the idea that the Exosphere was going to be important.”
Through live streaming, Sphere expands its canvas beyond Las Vegas, allowing people around the world to experience its wonders. XO Audio features sound created by Sphere Studios or external artists, synchronized with the motion of images in the Exosphere. Audio accompanies Exosphere graphics on-site and via XO stream.
“There are speakers around the outside that are designed to cover the campus with sound,” Koester says, noting that it's not HOLOPLOT, which powers Sphere Immersive Sound inside the space.
XO Audio is specific to the Exosphere and will be separate from what happens inside. However, Koester does not rule out future expansions as innovations are constantly evolving.
“During the NHL Draft in June, we were able to show the Exosphere what was going on inside for the first time,” he says. Also, for the first time, Sphere Studios led the design and content creation for the indoor screen and Exosphere.
To further enhance the experience, a fleet of 500 drones is now available to sync with Exosphere. During the launch, these drones took the form of fireworks, stars and phrases like “Year of the Sphere”.
“When an image appears [on the Exosphere]it will shoot right out of the Sphere in the form of drones,” says Dolan.
“Drones will feed into all the tools we bring to our artists and brands and amplify that narrative,” adds Koester.
Exosphere is estimated to garner more than 300,000 in-person views per day and more than 4 million digital views thanks to XO stream.
During the July 4th event, another XO show debuted: the inaugural Sphere XO Student Design Challenge. Launched in March in partnership with Sphere, the Clark County School District and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, it invited more than 100,000 students to participate in a competition that explores the intersection between art and science.
Eight students from elementary to graduate school from Clark County were ultimately chosen by both the general public (more than 75,000 votes) and a panel of judges — including professional artists Refik Anadol and Michela Picchi, who had previously designed for the Exosphere — to perform their work at the Sphere on July 4th. They were also awarded scholarships. This was the first time members of the general public presented their visual creations outside the venue.
With a year's worth of progress now, what could be next? For one thing, Dolan hopes to turn the bullet inside out. “One of the things we're working on that we haven't been able to do yet is make the outside of the Sphere disappear — make it transparent so you can see it [see what’s happening inside from the Exosphere],” He says.
He's also excited to see what the Eagles will bring to the Sphere when they make their debut there in September.
“They build off each other,” Dolan says of the musical acts that have had residencies at the venue, including U2, Phish and Dead & Company. “Each pushes the medium further and learns from the previous one. We show them the canvas. We have brushes and paints. People say to us, 'Here's how you use these brushes,' but we don't tell them what to put on the canvas.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/sphere-las-vegas-livestream-drones-4th-of-july/
