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- LA Gets Its Own Sphere
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LA Gets Its Own Sphere
I’ve written about and praised the Las Vegas Sphere previously (and in terms much less profane than Drew Carey’s extremely NSFW tweets about seeing Phish there).
This is why I was pleased to learn about the new venue from Cosm that’s arrived in Inglewood, right in my backyard! Check out these specs via the LA Times:
The centerpiece of the venue is its dome, with an 87-foot-diameter wraparound LED screen…
Cosm boast[s] a 12K LED screen. That presentation, coupled with our close proximity to a screen that wraps around and above us, at times even results in a sense of motion.
The article goes on to note that Cosm, which also has a venue in Dallas, is not marketing itself as a theater, but rather an events venue with a partial focus on sports due to its proximity to SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome.
Furthermore, Cosm’s intended programming is not simply TV broadcasts:
Cosm events are filmed with the company’s own cameras, providing four to six unique perspectives — either on the field or courtside, or sometimes an unexpected above-ground view, says Devin Poolman, Cosm’s chief product and technology officer. The goal is to ensure what you’re seeing at Cosm is not something that is replicated at home. And if it works, it should create an illusion of being extremely close to the action, as Cosm’s in-house technical directors are switching camera angles on the fly.
Cosm is also leaning heavily into the social aspect of events, making sure people feel like it’s a space where they can enjoy being with their friends:
Seating, for instance, is communal. A second-floor bar rail is available for solo guests but also encourages conversation with those around you. Tables and booths offer seating for two to eight.
Longtime readers know that one of my fixations is getting people out of the house and into the theater, one of our best proven methods for making actual money. Taking note of the success of these spaces will be crucial for building a theatrical experience that works for a new generation of audiences.
One of the things I took from the Cosm article was its focus on social connection; obviously we don’t want people talking during a movie, but why is it there are so few spaces in movie theaters themselves for people to enjoyably congregate before and after a movie? You can’t really hang out with your friends in the lobby!
Solving this, making theaters “must-attend” venues is they key to securing a future for the movie theater experience.
Weird AI at the Olympics
Sorry to disappoint you, this article is not about beloved parody musician “Weird Al” Yankovic at this year’s Olympics, but rather weird AI at this year’s Olympics. It’s not so much “Eat It” as it is “eating my brain.”
Like many people, I am beyond tired of the way the “AI” label gets slapped on everything to make it sound more cool and futuristic, which is similar to the way I tried to make myself seem more cool and futuristic during my sophomore year of high school by pretending my nickname was “Ace”. Unfortunately, the teenaged wits in my class decided my nickname was actually “Ass.” It’s in the yearbook too!
AI buzzwording may have reached its nadir on the official Olympics website section about AI, which is filled with enragingly meaningless phrases. Try to parse what any of this means:
This includes collaborating with Worldwide Olympic Partner Alibaba to provide a record number of multi-camera replay systems with AI-powered, high-quality reconstruction in the cloud, to create three-dimensional models and mapping of additional viewpoints across 21 sports and disciplines. This will deliver more compelling replays from more camera angles.
What is “AI-powered, high-quality reconstruction in the cloud”??? What does this mean? What does it look like? It just sounds like there are lots of camera angles. Am I missing something?
The entire page is like this, but probably the worst AI-”enhanced” piece of working is this video, which consists of footage from the 1924 Paris Olympics “recolored by Alibaba AI cloud technology.”
OK, this looks AWFUL. Like, this is really bad! I think Ted Turner did less damage to classic films in the 1980s. Who wants this? Who thinks it’s an improvement over the original black and white photography? Nobody!
This is the problem with AI hype in a nutshell, you’re presented with something horrible but you’re told it’s an amazing technological invention. Thankfully the Olympics still gives us the opportunity to observe what is most important: the incredible achievements of people.
Kernels (3 links worth making popcorn for)
Here’s a round-up of cool and interesting links about Hollywood and technology:
The NBA’s huge new deals with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon. (link)
Why is ByteDance getting into hardware? (link)
The surprising number of 2024 movies shot on film. (link)