Massive LED dome offers new immersive entertainment in Dallas area

The best place to watch the Texas A&M football team take on the Florida Gators in Gainesville this Saturday might just be in the Dallas suburbs.

A company called Cosm has recently opened a new entertainment venue in The Colony, and it promises a different kind of viewing experience. Customers buy a seat to watch a game or event on an 87-foot LED sphere, all from a comfy couch with concessions just a phone tap away.

Susan Karlin is a contributor to Fast Company magazine, who recently got to check out Cosm’s other location in Los Angeles. She spoke to  Texas Standard about the experience. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: You know, I think it’s hard for a lot of listeners to understand just how this experience might be different from going to the movies or even an IMAX screening. Can you give folks a general sense of what this is like?

Susan Karlin: So an IMAX is a projected 70-degree field of view. So you still feel like you’re watching a screen.

Cosm has a 180-degree 12K+ LED display. So you’re getting a much clearer, sharper image and it’s all around you. It feels like you’re actually ringside or courtside. And so you don’t feel like you’re actually watching a movie.

Wow. I was trying to think of how this translates into a sports event. So is it like you’re sitting in the stands or something? You’re watching the game or you’re down on the field or I mean, what’s the view like when you’re in that space? I guess there’s no bad seat in the house, I would think.

So it feels a little like a VIP suite. I had a chance to experience this when I cover the SoFi Stadium.

So there are suites that are actually on the level of the field, right? And you’re in line, you’re looking through the players, through the camera personnel and the coaches and the other players and then you can sit around and hang around and you’re right there. And then you can turn around and go inside and get food and then come back out and look.

It’s very much like that experience, except in a fraction of the cost.

Speaking of cost, let’s talk about that. How much does it cost to get in?

So they’re charging between $20 and $200. I don’t know what’s $20 and I don’t know what’s $200, but that’s basically the range that they’re looking at.

Yeah, that’s a good question because would the seats up front be really better or would it be better to sit in the middle or what?

No, they’re like raked seating and they’re all nightclub seating. So it’s not theater seating. You’re all sitting around a table having cocktails or food and the seating goes up.

So wherever you’re sitting, you have a really good view. Each tier might be a slightly different one, but they’re all fabulous views. You’re all courtside or ringside.

And the other thing is that it’s designed to be done with friends. Like you can go to a theatrical show a play by yourself and you’re there. But this is really designed to be experienced with friends. You’re sitting at a nightclub table with friends and you’re also enjoying the game.

That is wild. So does this go beyond sporting events or are there other options they’re planning for this Cosm experience?

So sports are going to be the main driver, but they’re looking at it for concert overflow.

Like, for example, it would have been fabulous if it were up and running for the Taylor Swift concerts because that was in such high demand and the tickets were so expensive. This would have been a great overflow. So they’re looking at concert overflow.

When the Olympics come to Los Angeles, they’re looking at event overflow like that. But it can also be for lesser-seen sports, like sports that you might not be able to get on television, but they can pipe it in. This is all produced over the cloud, which enables real-time processing.

That is really interesting. You know, it sounds a lot like what I’ve been reading about the Sphere in Las Vegas, only perhaps this is more immersive since you’re sitting at tables and not in sort of theater seats.

Yeah. And I also wanted to say that they’re having shows – like they’re piping in from Las Vegas the Cirque du Soleil show. And they’re having kind of psychedelic or epic journeys. There’s a movie that takes you through the cosmos from the point of view of an astronaut.

It’s for immersive entertainment, as well. And they’re also going to have educational programing, rocket launches or lectures. So that’s sort of the extended version.

Well, you know, you think about being able to go through the rainforest or something like that. What an experience that would be. Or go up to Alaska without the cold. Do you think this is the kind of thing people will do over and over again or is this more of a novelty, knowing what you know about the industry?

I mean, for someone like me who’s a space nerd, I would go to it to see rocket launches. You know, when Starship eventually launches or when the SLS eventually launches, I would go for that.

But I see it as people who are trying to get hard-won tickets to, like, a huge concert – like Taylor Swift. And I really see it as a way for people to experience being at games that they never would have been able to be at and only view on television.

I hope it continues. I think it’s a nice addition to other forms of immersive entertainment. I like the novelty of it, but I also like the spirit of it. So I hope that it continues and does well.

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