The Circle Odyssey is a brand new touring immersive concert experience kicking off next year. In this video, we'll talk about how it compares to another immersive concert venue I visited earlier this year, the Sphere, where this immersive video trend may be coming from and where it may be headed next. Circle says that audiences attending Circle Odyssey shows will be surrounded by 360° of high-definition video that will be synchronized with the music being played, displayed on video walls which will be about 40 ft tall and 180 ft long. Circle says that every Circle Odyssey show will be totally unique, with artists performing in the center and the surrounding videos acting like a panoramic window onto our planet. The Sphere similarly kicked off its grand opening with a concert series and a video celebration of our planet, Darren Aronofsky's Postcard from Earth. While the Sphere's immense interior wraparound video wall is made up of LEDs, the Circle Odyssey will be powered by 29 projectors, which Circle has said will be rented locally, along with the sound and

Lighting equipment cutting down on the cost, both financially and energetically, of transporting such equipment over the long distances required for a tour. The sphere, on the other hand, being a giant fixed glowing LED orb, is not going on tour anytime soon. What's the fun fact? The exosphere has an area of 580,000 sq. ft., that's larger than 10 football fields. Like Circle, it also has aspirations to reach new audiences. The sphere aims to achieve this by building new sphere locations in various cities around the world. Circle Odyssey will have a no phones policy, but we'll be filming the shows professionally themselves, and attendees will have access to those materials at the sphere. At least when I visited, they didn't seem to care if I pulled out my cell phone because there's no way a cell phone could do justice to the experience, as it'll only ever capture a small portion of the screen. Speaking of phones, a lot of marketing these days relies on creating viral moments people share on social media. The sphere is extremely well-designed for

that sort of thing, given the fact it's surrounded by the world's largest LED screen called the exosphere, which not only can create photo-friendly memeable moments. It also acts like its own billboard, drawing people to The Landmark venue like moths to a flame. It will be interesting to see how the Circle Odyssey markets its touring immersive experiences without those types of advantages. Circle is a company best known for producing concerts in photogenic locations around the world and filming and broadcasting them on the Internet. This new Circle Odyssey Venture is a way to bring immersion to audiences through the Concert Experience. The sphere is also pushing immersive experiences to new levels, inventing the Big Sky camera to capture spherical video, dealing with the complex engineering challenges that come with designing a first-of-its-kind spherical entertainment venue, and arguably creating an entirely new media format. This push toward group immersive experiences comes on the heels of a significant investment in building out the so-called metaverse, where individual immersive experiences are achieved through glasses, goggles, and headgear.

circle Odyssey and the sphere both appear to be aiming at providing a group setting for immersive experiences. These experiences may eventually be reformatted for VR release, the way that films start off with a theatrical release and then become available later for home viewing on streaming services. The circle Odyssey tour is kicking off next year in Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Paris. Phase one tickets are sold out, but there is a waitlist you can join to find out about new ticket sells and new tour dates. What do you think of the circle Odyssey? Let us know down in the comments. As always, thanks so much for watching. I'm your host Jesse oral. See you next time with the fam.

Cercle Odyssey vs. Sphere: Immersive Concert Experiences

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