The Sphere • Hacker News Board

Re: The Sphere

#71

Post by a1rb4Ck » Mon, Jul 08, 2024, 8:11 PM UTC

kkarakk wrote: post #59

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #31

While the sphere is more modern, and features the very hyped exterior LED screen, the concept of a sphere with a cinema screen wrapped inside it is quite old. 30 years ago, la geode already existed in Paris : https://www.lageode.fr/ I got good memories of this as a kid, and if you are in the area, it's definitely a must-do in the city. Especially since it's attached to one of the most fun science museums you'll get t…

the website says the geode closed down in 2018 for renovations. the website was last updated in 2022. wikipedia says the geode is closed til september 2024 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_G%C3%A9ode . what kinda shenangigans are going on there?

La Geode was an institutional place sold to the Pathé Gaumont cinema group in 2018. I got news in 2022 that the issue was that it's full of asbestos. I heard there is an ongoing legal procedural because it was not noticed in the contract.. I would really like to know more about what they are doing inside. I followed some architectural projects, and they might have removed the imax dome to operate a simpler wide screen + divided the place for others screens. So sad, it was one of the last omnispherical screen in France, there is only one left in Le Futuroscope.

Re: The Sphere

#72

Post by a1rb4Ck » Mon, Jul 08, 2024, 8:44 PM UTC

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #31

While the sphere is more modern, and features the very hyped exterior LED screen, the concept of a sphere with a cinema screen wrapped inside it is quite old. 30 years ago, la geode already existed in Paris : https://www.lageode.fr/ I got good memories of this as a kid, and if you are in the area, it's definitely a must-do in the city. Especially since it's attached to one of the most fun science museums you'll get t…

Actually, the french Panrama [1] invented by Philippe Jaulmes (1958) totally inspired the Imax Dome, after a demo the Expo'67 in Montreal [2]. The Panrama story is long, documents only in french, and I'm still learning bits. For la Géode, the Panrama team tried hard to make a deal to use their french-made tech, so they would have installed 4 smaller omni screens next to the big Imax dome. This was scrapped from the beginning, as la Géode was built on the Omnimax spec from the ground-up. The panrama team still managed to operate a 18m screen in Paris Montparnasse [3] (Espace Gaîté / now Théatre Rive Gauche), and there is one screen left fully equipped in Montpelier, but closed [4]. The Panrama tech was originally 16mm wide, then 35mm, and finally horizontal VistaVision 35mm.

[1] https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panrama [2] https://vimeo.com/199136507 [3] https://www.panrama.net/pages/histoire.html [4] https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4htqhr

Re: The Sphere

#73

Post by sbierwagen » Sat, Jul 13, 2024, 5:37 AM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #56

aabajian wrote: post #52

If you want a real surreal experience, I suggest visiting Carlsbad Caverns, or a similar enormous cave system. I suspect the awe the author felt was the same sensation as being in an enclosure larger than any building. Think about being in an aircraft hanger then multiple the size by ten. There simply aren't any human-built structures as large. The sky becomes rock and it's just different than any place you've ever b…

Carlsbad is big, but there are bigger indoor spaces out there. Carlsbad's "big room" is 625 ft wide, and 255 ft high at its highest point. That is big, but things like stadiums get bigger. Carlsbad is long too (4km) but as a cave length isn't really perceptible. NASA's vehicle assembly building is 720 ft by 520 ft and 530 ft high, roughly the same but much higher than Carlsbad. Tropical Islands Resort is a tropical w…

There are tours available for the largest building in the world (by volume) https://www.boeingfutureofflight.com/tour

The height is nothing much, but the main factory is 2,607 ft (794 m) along the longest dimension.