- Hello, welcome to "Double Tap" on YouTube and I'm here with Matt Atta. We are continuing our conversation that we had on air on "Double Tap," and you can go check out the podcast at the links in the show notes below. But Matt Atta back here with us here on YouTube. You know, here we are, we're on the internet together. I think it's the future. That's what they tell me. - The internet's the future? - That's what they tell me. I mean, I know nothing. So, you know, I go where I'm told. Mr. F says go here, I go there. He says I'll get the numbers up. Apparently my face will bring in the viewers. I have some issues with this, I have to be honest. Going by some of the comments, I think they do too. Anyway, let's talk about the Sphere because you were at CES but you were getting a chance to wander about Las Vegas as well and you got a chance to go to the Sphere. And I just wanna get a sense from you about that experience because I think from a low vision perspective, part of me feels from a vision perspective overall, you kind of need to have a fair amount of it to enjoy the Sphere. Tell me more. - So yeah, I don't see anything outta one eye and my other eye it's like 2,600 tunnel, so I'm not gonna get the full exposure of a screen as big as Sphere. Sphere is huge, I'll just start with that. Okay. 18,000 people sitting vertically up. Okay. - Oh wow. Right. - Yeah, and the screen, for anybody who's ever done IMAX now, just immerse yourself more than what IMAX does. Now, when we bought our tickets, we were being very price sensitive and we ended up in like the top level, but at the bottom of the top level. I actually loved it for the movie we were in. And basically, you know, at one point an elephant's running at you, okay, and the entire seat's shaking and the sounds around you are all immersive, but it actually felt like you were right there with the elephant. Now, the downside is that there's really no audio description in the current product. The one thing I would say is that what's missing is the audio description. So I did something different. I actually opened up Be My Eyes and I used the AI feature and I took pictures every minute and let that describe it to me. So the scenes in the movie that we went to is all about the earth. They were probably a minute per scene. And so, you know, I get a fixed picture of the fact that it was an elephant on the screen before the elephant had run at me. The next screen was about a giraffe and it told me the giraffe and described it to me. There was a scene with the sharks on the screen and the shark swam at you and opened its mouth and like all of that kind of stuff. So I would get a fixed shot instead of a video shot description of it. Could I have called someone, had them to describe it? Maybe. But I also wanted the immersive sides of the sound that were around me and I wanted to be exposed to that. So, you know, even though I didn't have audio description, which I think may have been a little overkill if they do too much talking, 'cause it is all about the sounds as well, I loved using Be My Eyes for this experience. There was one scene and I wish I had saved the pictures, but you know, I don't think we get to save the pictures unless you take it outside the app because I'd love to go back 'cause there was a scene where there was some people, and they described the people, who they were, based on what they were wearing in Africa. So, you know, Be My Eyes is really smart with this stuff and it nailed it, like the description of what it was. - Wow, that's incredible. So could you see any of it at all? Could you really get a sense- - Yeah, I mean I could tell there was an elephant once it told me it was an elephant. I'm like, oh yeah, that's an elephant. When it says a giraffe, you could see, like, I could tell that the tall neck of the giraffe. I knew they were sharks before it described it as sharks because I could see the fin enough, but I could also hear the water and them swishing around in the water, right. - Well that's why it's a multi-sensory as well. So it gives you that extra. And it's the full height in front of you, right? Is it the full size in front of you? - Yes. - Comes up and over you, the screen? - Yep, up and over. And being up high, I liked it because, you know, I feel like we got more of it. I have a friend who had been at the U2 show and he said he was down lower and he thinks that for that show it was better being down lower. - Now, were they live in the Sphere? - They were, yes. - And I guess that's projected onto the screen as well. - Correct. - So the people up top can see. That's incredible. That's incredible. So, is it 3D? Is that the idea or is it... - You didn't wear 3D glasses, so as a person who's probably never felt that, but it kind of feels it. When that shark came at me, I jumped. Okay, just to be clear. And so you felt like you're right there in the water with it. - Because the screen is, I mean, this is all going by description from what people have told me, but it sounds to me like you're inside a gigantic ball. - Yes, exactly. - That's the best way I can describe it. Yeah, it's like you're inside a mini world of its own. Because on the outside of it, you've got a big giant screen as well and that screen can be anything, right? - Oh yeah. - My favorite was when it broke down at some point and it was like a Windows sad face or something. - When I had- - A virus update or whatever it required, you know. - I looked out my window and I was on the phone with somebody so I did FaceTime and they said it was a Tetris game going on on the side of the ball. - Yeah, it could be a basketball, it could be air- - It could be anything. - Yeah, I think there was an eye of a dinosaur at one at one point. - The Android, whatever the Android animal creature is that's moving around the screen once, you know. So yeah. You wonder if someone's paying to get that on there, by the way. - Oh, I have no doubt there'll be money absolutely changing hands. I mean, I'm wondering if we get the "Double Tap" logo on there, but I think we might be pushing it. But I mean, I guess my question to you is, you know, is there a value in sort of visiting that? If you're going to Las Vegas and you're blind or low vision, is it worth doing it? - I think it all depends about the show and what you bring with you right now until audio description gets out to be able to get the rest of the experience. If you went to U2 concert, would you still go to a U2 concert and just listen to them? Probably. And there was probably other, you know, you're getting the music and you're getting the sounds, you're getting the vibrations from other things. So, I feel like you're gonna get some level of a different experience than what you're used to in the movies. So I would do it, for sure. - Okay, well- - But I love, I did- - Next time I'm in Vegas, we'll do it. Next time you and I travel to Vegas- - Why don't you and I, we can meet in Vegas instead of London. All right? - Well at least the good thing is we might be able to find our way to that Sphere. It's certainly big enough. - Yeah, it's bright enough. - Use the landmark. - It's bright enough for sure. I would say that what I would plan for is definitely have tools like Be My Eyes or something like it so that you have some way of getting some descriptions when you need it. Now they tell you not to use your phone and don't take pictures, so I turned the screen off on my phone. - Smart move, yep. Screenshots handy. - And just plugged in my headphones and took pictures and my family are looking over to the right and saw me doing it so they knew what I was doing. - And you were with your family, so, you know, I guess you didn't need assistance, but that's an option as well, right? I mean, I'm guessing just to- - I could have had them describe it, but there's a lot of people around you, right? So do you really want- - Well, I mean more about getting in. So once you actually get into the place, you know, getting to your seat, you know, 'cause that's the other side of it. - Yeah, it's like a stadium. It's like any stadium though. - Yeah. You're gonna get help, yeah. - Yeah and if you have vertigo, you may not wanna do it because it's very high up and it's steep. - Well, a friend of mine said to me once, he said, "Have you've got vertigo?" I said, "No, I just live around the corner." Good joke. Matt, thank you for coming on, staying with us. - Thank you, Steven. - Thanks for coming on to "Double Tap." It's always a pleasure. - Enjoyed it.