[imagesource:x/spherelasvegas]

We’ve previously marvelled over the new mind-boggling ‘future of entertainment’ that is the Las Vegas Sphere, but with a week to go before the official opening, we finally get to see what the inside will look like. And it’s spectacular.

The venue — and largest spherical structure in the world — opens September 29 with a series of performances by U2 and later, a custom film by Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky is a good choice for the opening of Sphere as his films are perfectly suited for this mind-blowing venue.

His film, Postcard From Earth, will be the first movie designed specifically for the all-encompassing screen.

Aronofsky describes Postcard From Earth as a “sci-fi journey deep into our future as our descendants reflect on our shared home”. It was filmed on every continent and contains both narrative and documentary elements.

“It’s a learning process because the technology is new,” says the director. “Delivering a half-petabyte movie — that’s 500,000 gigabytes — that utilises more than 160,000 speakers is mind-boggling.”

An instantly iconic addition to the Las Vegas’ skyline, Sphere is not only the world’s largest spherical structure but also a technological marvel that offers us a glimpse of entertainment’s future.

The $2.3 billion (R49 billion) structure contains the world’s largest interior and exterior wraparound LED displays. Outside, the LED-coated globe lights up the city at night with ever-shifting imagery. Inside, the viewer is immersed in a jaw-dropping phantasmagoria.

Sphere’s sound system even enables audience members to have different sonic experiences in different parts of the venue, which can accommodate 20,000.

As Hollywood explores the potential of LED displays as an alternative to digital cinema projection, sound has remained a stubborn obstacle. Designed by Berlin-based Holoplot, Sphere’s system could well prove an approach to address that technical challenge.

Sphere is poised to play a visible role at November’s Formula One race in Las Vegas.

“Turn six and the beginning of turns seven on the track are going to run through Sphere’s parking lot,” says Sphere’s executive VP and COO Rich Claffey. “And then they’ll use our whole infield for their staging area, their musical artists, their activation area. We’ll probably have 27,000 maybe 30,000 people on our property at any given time.”

Additional plans call for Formula One content to be displayed on the exosphere during the race, while an afterparty for the drivers will be held at Sphere.

If you’re unable to make the opening (because, well, the ZAR), here is a sneak preview of what the experience could be like:

 

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James Cameron is probably salivating while he plans Avatar 3 – can you imagine?

[source:hollywoodreporter]