VR Experience SPHERES Brings The Beauty of Space to NYC
Writer and director Eliza McNitt gives stargazing a whole new meaning with SPHERES. A virtual reality (VR) experience, SPHERES walks you through space as you mingle with the stars and planets. Humans have been observing stars for as long as their existence, and now you have a chance to float alongside them.
Since the conception of virtual reality, we’ve used it mainly for entertainment, such as video games, movies, etc. SPHERES uses VR to give us a chance to journey through a black hole and hear the chorus of the galaxy. This multisensory VR experience uses sound and the Oculus Rift headset. It’s divided into 3 chapters that add up to about 45 minutes. Produced by Darren Aronofsky, the three sections are narrated by Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain, and Patti Smith. Seven viewers can have the VR experience at a time.
If you’re in the NYC area, I highly recommend this to anyone who nerds out about astronomy and/or loves tech. It’s at the Rockefeller Center, 600 Fifth Avenue, and is open from January 18th running through March 3rd.
The mysteries of space have always been something we have sought to understand. One thing we didn’t always know is that even though space is mostly unoccupied, there is sound out there emanating from the cosmos. As you go through this journey, you get to experience things that were once considered inconceivable; such as zooming past several universes or sitting at the heart of a dying star as we hear it’s fleeting beats. Not every day we get to experience a star reach supernova. Have you ever seen what a black hole looks like up close as it pulls in and consumes matter and light? Never? Well, it looks out of this world.
The mysteriousness of space reeled me in. The songs sung by stars and the captivating colors kept my attention. This experience is an intersection between art and science. It takes us on a journey that feels almost like a visual poem, mental meditation and an educational video all at once. The narrators take us through the universe, putting us in the perspective of a particle floating in space. As I was listening and observing, it made me realize that space is not so empty and also not so quiet. McNitt (in the featured photo taken by me) and composers Kyle Dixion and Michael Stein have created a captivating sensory experience.
Happy stargazing!
