The Roman Theater of Orange becomes the cradle of an immersive experience, both sound and visual, unique in the world: this is the “Sound Odyssey” presented last January at CES, the innovation fair in Las Vegas, and which combines several technologies in a spectacular way.
Imagine the starry night falling on the Roman Theater of Orange in the Vaucluse, this open-air semicircular jewel, built by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago, a temple of acoustics, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO since 1981.
The site can accommodate up to 10,000 spectators but the gauge for “L’Odyssée sonore” is 300 people. Each spectator is equipped with a high-resolution audio headset (at 800 euros each) connected to a smartphone which knows, at all times, where you are in the Roman Theater to within 50 cm, and in which direction you are looking.
Brel or Hendrix: to each his own!
“The Sound Odyssey” begins and yet, in the Roman Theater, not a sound. When you shift your helmet, you only hear the sounds of footsteps on the gravel in the pit. The idea, in fact, is to walk, move around and go everywhere: in the stands, in the pit and even on the stage, to enter the sound bubbles that you have to find, like in a treasure hunt.
Thus, at the same moment, a spectator, in his helmet, hears Brel singing “An island”… and a few meters from him, another spectator who has entered another sound bubble, discovers “Voodoo Child” by Jimi Hendrix. From classical to metal via electro, several centuries of music history are evoked in about forty minutes. And each viewer therefore has a different sound experience. In fact, you would have to come back several times, and follow different paths to tell yourself that you haven’t missed anything.
Hundreds of AI-generated images
Sound immersion therefore, and visual immersion too, thanks to image projections, impressive from every point of view. The feat is not only due to the monumental character of these projections which use the Roman Theater as a screen, over 5,000 m2, 35 meters high, provided by 25 video projectors. The world first is also based on the use of generative artificial intelligence. In other words, the equivalent, for the creation of images, of chatGPT.
In Orange, the projected divinities, the muses, the decorations, the forests: nothing exists in reality. A few seconds is the time taken to create each image – and there are several hundred of them – under the artistic direction of Etienne Mineur.
Result: enormous time savings, production costs divided by four for Edeis and its subsidiary, specializing in AI, IMKI, a Strasbourg start-up, and a very affordable entry ticket – between 18 and 22 euros – for this innovative and transgenerational world first. 73 dates are planned, from May 1, 2023, until next winter.