18,000-seater venue is a giant spherical digital billboard
The Sphere is an 18,000-seat venue whose enormous LED screen can project a range of images on its exosphere. Photo: Greg Doherty, Getty Images
The Sphere is an 18,000-seat venue that will host its first concert on September 29 when U2 take up their residency. Photo: Greg Doherty, Getty Images
The Sphere is an 18,000-seat venue whose enormous LED screen can project a range of images on its exosphere. Photo: Greg Doherty, Getty Images
The Sphere is an 18,000-seat venue whose enormous LED screen can project a range of images on its exosphere. Photo: Greg Doherty, Getty Images
The Sphere is an 18,000-seat venue whose enormous LED screen can project a range of images on its exosphere. Photo: Greg Doherty, Getty Images
The Sphere is an 18,000-seat venue whose enormous LED screen can project a range of images on its exosphere. Photo: Greg Doherty, Getty Images
Aliens have not invaded Las Vegas – that we know of – but something otherworldly has landed on the famously gaudy Strip.
In a city know for dazzling aesthetics and questionable business practices, there were surprisingly few fireworks when the new venue opened last week.
The Sphere at the Venetian Resort is a $2bn (€1.82bn) venue covered with 580,000 sq feet of programmable LED panels that can make the sphere look like a black hole has opened up or turn it into a giant Christmas snow globe in the centre of the desert.
The 366 ft tall, 516ft wide venue is the largest spherical structure on Earth. It features an ‘exosphere’ which is the largest LED screen in the world.
The sight has created a lot of buzz: some see a technological marvel, others see a gigantic spherical billboard that’s a prime distraction for drivers.
The Sphere is an 18,000-seat venue that is set to host its first concert on September 29 when U2, also known for baffling technological choices, starts its residency of more than two months.
Though the exterior feels like it could be seen from space, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has reported sightline problems inside.
According to the company, the Sphere’s interior has 160,000 sq feet – or roughly the area of three football fields – worth of programmable space.
The Review-Journal reported in August 2018 just before construction began that convention attendees who speak other languages would be able to see the same visuals, but have their languages presented to them without headphones or wires.
An organisation that’s familiar with spectacle, Madison Square Garden Entertainment, partnered with Las Vegas Sands Corp. to build the Sphere.
The project hasn’t been without problems: costs ballooned from less than $1.7bn (€1.55bn) in 2019 to $2.3bn (€2.1bn) by this May, according to the Review-Journal.
But the impact of the new sphere may widen – the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. has told shareholders that it has purchased land in the Stratford area of London to build another sphere.
This content was originally published here.