Google's AI Reimagines 'The Wizard of Oz' for Las Vegas Sphere's Immersive Experience

Google used AI to 'reconceptualize' The Wizard of Oz for the Las Vegas Sphere

The Gemini-infused take on the 1939 classic will screen in Sin City this summer. Google has used AI to revamp one of the most beloved films of all time for a 360-degree Sin City screen with the highest resolution in the world. The rerolled version of The Wizard of Oz will debut this August at The Sphere, the Las Vegas entertainment venue with a famously globular LED screen. Whether a technical marvel, dystopian nightmare fuel or some combination, the project will surely continue The Sphere's penchant for extravagant spectacles that persuade tourists to plunk down hundreds of dollars to sit for a few hours in one of its 17,600 seats. Sphere Entertainment, the company behind the venue, worked on the project with Google, Magnopus and Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns The Wizard of Oz rights. Google describes it as an "epic undertaking of creativity and technology," humbly likening it to the cinematic boundaries broken by the acclaimed Technicolor original. "We're taking a beloved movie, but we are re-creating it," Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian told The Wall Street Journal. "The only other way you could do it is to go back [in time] and film it with the cameras that the Sphere uses." Google used generative AI models from its Gemini family on the project, most notably Veo 2 and Imagen 3. The company not only had to magnify the original 35mm film for a 160,000-square-foot screen composed of 16,000 LEDs but also had to account for camera cuts that removed characters from the frame. For example, in a Kansas scene between Dorothy, Auntie Em and Miss Gulch, Uncle Henry (who was also in the room but off-camera) will be visible on the much wider screen. It did so primarily through an AI super-resolution tool (generating new pixels to fit the much higher-res screen), AI outpainting (generating new parts of a scene stretching beyond the original celluloid) and performance generation (incorporating composites of the actors into these expanded environments). To help fine-tune the AI models, Google didn't limit the models' training to the original footage. It also fed them supplementary material like the shooting script, production illustrations, photographs, set plans and scores -- teaching them about characters' and environmental details and production elements like camera focal lengths. The company also consulted with professional filmmakers for character actions, expressions and performance. "Now, Dorothy's freckles snap into focus, and Toto can scamper more seamlessly through more scenes," Google claimed. The companies behind the project (perhaps contradictorily) claim that, despite AI touching "over 90 percent of the movie," it "respects the original in every way." Google says no new dialogue lines were added, and there isn't a note of new music sung. If the glimpse shown in the preview below (via tabGeeks) is any indication, Dorothy has all the overly smoothed-out hallmarks we've come to expect from AI-upscaled faces. But we'll leave final judgment for the sun-drenched Sin City tourists who spend their hard-earned (or hard-won) cash on following the Gemini-infused road beginning on August 28.

Google's AI is bringing a classic film to life on the Vegas Sphere's massive screen

The Sphere in Las Vegas is a spectacle that has been making waves since it was first introduced back in 2023. The eye-catching exterior is a sight to behold on the Nevada skyline, while the massive interior screen provides a backdrop like no other. Related Google Gemini: Everything you need to know about Google's next-gen multimodal AI Google Gemini is here, with a whole new approach to multimodal AI Posts Since its opening, there have been a number of unique events, along with fantastic concerts to take advantage of the unique domed screen that spans the interior and exterior walls of the Sphere. And now it looks like Google is utilizing its AI magic in order to bring 'The Wizard of Oz' to life this summer. A new way to see an old classic Source: Google While it's not clear what exactly 'The Wizard of Oz at Sphere' will entail, one can only imagine that viewers will be enveloped in the classic once they step into the venue. And as you can probably imagine, a project of this scale would have been impossible to create without the power of AI. And, of course, Google's Gemini is making some of this possible. Perhaps the most challenging work here is accommodating the old visuals in a way that stays true to the original but also properly stretches across the entire display nestled in the Sphere. For the most part, this is no small task, as the team is working with original material, which means an "original four-by-three image on a 35mm piece of celluloid." Naturally, there were many directions that the various teams involved wanted to go, but it seemed like from the start that using CGI just wasn't an option and that AI would be necessary to complete this project. While there were lots of hurdles to overcome, it seems that 'The Wizard of Oz at Sphere' is going to be one of those summer events that you cannot ignore if you're in the area. However, don't get too excited because this experience is still months away, with Google sharing that it will make its debut on August 28, 2025. And if you want to give AI a try on your Android phone, just fire up Gemini to see all the things that it can do to enhance your experience.

The Wizard of Oz is coming to the Las Vegas sphere in 16K thanks to the power of Google DeepMind AI

The Wizard of Oz is coming to the Las Vegas Sphere, and it's all thanks to Google's incredible AI technology. Following last week's announcement that the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz is being reimagined for Las Vegas' iconic 16K LED screen spherical theater, set to open on August 28, Google is now giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the magic behind the production. While The Wizard of Oz was not the first film to be shot in color, it's often referenced as one of the first true movie experiences to capture color efficiently, thanks to its incredible mix of colors and use of black-and-white in the film's Kansas scenes. In Google's blog post, the company says, "Likewise, "The Wizard of Oz" may not be the first film to be reconceptualized with AI, but it may soon be known for that, too." This is a massive project combining the teams at Google DeepMind, Google Cloud, Sphere Studios, Magnopus, and Warner Bros. Discovery to create an incredible experience, coming off the success of Wicked, which is set in the same world as The Wizard of Oz. With the launch of Wicked: For Good set for November 2025, it's the perfect time to put eyes on the movie that inspired Elphaba and Glinda's epic two-part musical. The power of tech and AI will showcase The Wizard of Oz in the "venue's 17,600-seat spherical space to create an immersive sensory experience," and Google says "generative AI will take center stage, alongside Dorothy, Toto and more munchkins than could ever fit in a multiplex." Google's blog post on the work that has gone into bringing The Wizard of Oz to The Sphere is nothing short of mind-blowing. The man behind the project, Buzz Hays, is the global lead for entertainment industry solutions at Google Cloud and a veteran producer in the world of Hollywood. He said, "We're starting with the original four-by-three image on a 35mm piece of celluloid -- it's actually three separate, grainy film negatives; that's how they shot Technicolor," Hays says. "That obviously won't work on a screen that is 160,000 square feet. So we're working with Sphere Studios, Magnopus and visual effects artists around the world, alongside our AI models, to effectively bring the original characters and environments to life on a whole new canvas -- creating an immersive entertainment experience that still respects the original in every way." The Sphere has the highest resolution screen in the world, which means The Wizard of OZ's grainy 1939 imagery would've caused a huge issue for the experience. Luckily, the teams found solutions using Veo, Imagen, and Gemini to completely transform the movie using an "AI-based 'super resolution' tool to turn those tiny celluloid frames from 1939 into ultra-ultra-high definition imagery that will pop inside Sphere." Following the upscaling, the teams then perform a process called AI outpainting, which essentially expands the scenes of The Wizard of Oz to fit the larger space found on the massive screen. AI then generates elements of the performances to fill out the created space and make the shots look and feel seamless. While I don't blame you if you think this sounds like an AI-generated catastrophe, ruining a classic that shouldn't be messed with, Google emphasises how the team has the traditions of cinema at the forefront of every decision. "In addition to old footage, the team scoured archives to build a vast collection of supplementary material, such as the shooting script, production illustrations, photographs, set plans and scores." Then, these materials were uploaded to Veo and Gemini to train the models and build on the "specific details of the original characters, their environments and even elements of the production, like camera focal lengths for specific scenes." "With far more source material than just the 102-minute film to work with, the quality of the outputs dramatically improved. Now, Dorothy's freckles snap into focus, and Toto can scamper more seamlessly through more scenes."

Google invented new ways to alter movies with AI for The Sphere. It's sure to be controversial.

This summer, The Sphere in Las Vegas is going to debut a new experience: The Wizard of Oz at Sphere. And it's doing so with the help of Google and AI. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. "The power of generative AI, combined with Google's infrastructure and expertise, is helping us to achieve something extraordinary," said Sphere Entertainment Executive Chairman and CEO Jim Dolan in a statement provided to Mashable. "We needed a partner who could push boundaries alongside our teams at Sphere Studios and Magnopus, and Google was the only company equipped to meet the challenge on the world's highest resolution LED screen." Regardless of whether you've been to Vegas, you're likely familiar with The Sphere. It's constantly going viral with its 580,000 square feet of LED displays wrapped around the venue. The inside of the one-of-a-kind venue, which seats nearly 17,600 people, also features wrap-around LED screens with an eye-popping 16K resolution. The Sphere has previously shown films made specifically for the venue. However, this year, it will show an existing movie for the first time, the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. As the Wall Street Journal reports, doing so isn't such a simple task; it's actually quite the process. "Very, very, very big and very, very difficult," the Wall Street Journal reported Google's director for AI foundation research Steven Hickson as saying. "There are scenes where the scarecrow's nose is like 10 pixels." Why is that a problem? The Sphere's indoor display has more than 170 million pixels. To reformat The Wizard of Oz for the world's biggest screen, The Sphere brought in the Google Deepmind team to help create an all-new experience with AI. The obvious use of AI here is to upscale the picture, which Google did. AI upscaling enhances an image's resolution by not just resizing the image to make it larger, but also by filling in any missing details from the original image. This helps with the resolution issue. While AI upscaling is probably the least controversial use of artificial intelligence in art or filmmaking, it can also produce some disastrous results. Take, for example, this AI upscaling screenshot taken from an episode of I Love Lucy on Blu-Ray (click the image below to see what we mean). This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. With Google's AI team working on this big project, alongside input from The Wizard of Oz rights-holder Warner Bros. Discovery, it's unlikely that we will see any AI upscaling issues like this. However, the Wall Street Journal report also includes a small before-and-after sample of Google's AI work on The Wizard of Oz for The Sphere, and minor glitches such as AI artifacts can be clearly seen. However, the Sphere experience also takes things much further than video upscaling. As the Journal reports, Google used generative AI models from its Gemini family, including Veo 2 and Imagen 3, to reimagine entire shots with extended backgrounds and to include characters missing from view. That means audiences will see beyond what the cameras originally caught in frame. Google's AI technology will generate these extensions based on what it believes could be there, taking into account the entirety of the full-length film. Again, this goes beyond enhancing an image to show an artist's work on a larger screen. Filmmakers shoot and frame shots in specific ways for artistic purposes, and generative AI could compromise the original vision. Earlier this month, a similar generative AI recreation went viral on social media for all the wrong reasons. A user on X uploaded a video of AI recreations of shots from filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. For example, in one scene, generative AI recreated a still shot so that the camera moved 360 degrees around the actor. The post received over 4,000 likes. However, another X user criticized the use of AI to recreate Tarkovsky's vision. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. "If the camera was supposed to move, then Tarkovsky would have had the camera move," said user The Kino Corner. The critique received more than 305,000 likes. Generative AI is still a very controversial subject in the film industry and the art community as a whole. Mashable has previously reported on the backlash against the use of AI in movies like The Brutalist and Late Night with the Devil. However, it does seem like The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is unlikely to cause too much controversy, as it's being created for a very specific event that can only be experienced at one venue in Las Vegas. With that said, the success of The Wizard of Oz at Sphere could help mainstream the use of AI in filmmaking and lead to wider adoption in the industry. Expect there to be a lot of eyes on Oz at The Sphere, even if they aren't physically there to experience it.

The Wizard of Oz Gets an AI Upgrade for the Las Vegas Sphere - Decrypt

Google is bringing "The Wizard of Oz" into the 21st century through a collaboration with the Las Vegas Sphere. On Tuesday, the tech giant announced plans to reimagine the 1939 classic using artificial intelligence and immersive sensory technology. Set to premiere on Aug. 28, 2025, the project will bring Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, Tinman, and Toto into an AI-powered sensory experience in the 17,600-seat theater. Directed by Victor Fleming, "The Wizard of Oz" was celebrated for its pioneering use of Technicolor and practical effects. "We talked about doing it in different ways," producer Jane Rosenthal said in a statement. "We realized that we really needed to do it with AI." To make "The Wizard of Oz" experience possible, Google collaborated with companies, including Sphere Entertainment, Google DeepMind, spatial computing company Magnopus, and Warner Bros. Discovery to adapt the beloved film for the Sphere's massive 160,000-square-foot, 16K-resolution LED screen. Google's team turned to archived footage, shooting scripts, set photographs, and musical scores, and uploaded them into Google's generative AI models, Gemini and Veo, which were trained on the material. Google then used Imagen 3 to upscale the film's resolution, extend backgrounds, and even include characters who originally did not appear on screen. "With far more source material than just the 102-minute film to work with, the quality of the outputs dramatically improved," Google said. "Now, Dorothy's freckles snap into focus and Toto can scamper more seamlessly through more scenes." Google has invested heavily in bringing AI tools to its legions of users. In September, Google launched NotebookLM, which lets users create human-sounding podcasts hosted by AI. In March, the company unveiled Gemini 2.0 Flash, which makes it possible to edit photos using only words. According to Google Cloud, over 90% of the film is AI-enhanced, with The Sphere adding sensory effects like wind, heat, and scent to deepen the experience. From the Tornado that swept Dorothy to Oz to the poppy fields outside of the Emerald City, viewers won't just watch the movie -- they'll feel it. The "Wizard of Oz" is the latest high-profile Hollywood film to get an AI treatment. In 2022, the Academy Award-winning "Everything Everywhere All at Once" used generative AI by Runway to enhance parts of the film. In 2024, Robert Zemeckis used AI technology by Metaphysic to de-age Tom Hanks and Robin Wright for the movie "Here." "When you have innovation like this, you don't always know where it's going to go," Sphere Entertainment CEO and Entertainment Executive Chairman Jim Dolan said in a statement. "You have to be able to take a leap of faith. What you're going to see in 'The Wizard of Oz at Sphere' is clearly a leap of faith."

The AI magic behind Sphere's upcoming 'The Wizard of Oz' experience

"The Wizard of Oz" may not be the first film shot in color, but many people remember it that way because of how director Victor Fleming cleverly used black-and-white film for the scenes set in Kansas. Likewise, "The Wizard of Oz" may not be the first film to be reconceptualized with AI, but it may soon be known for that, too. For months, thousands of researchers, programmers, visual effects artists, archivists and producers at Google DeepMind, Google Cloud, Sphere Studios, Magnopus, Warner Bros. Discovery and others in the film and technology industries have been working to bring the 1939 classic to a very big screen in a very big way. On August 28, their work will debut at Sphere, the colossal Las Vegas venue that has been pioneering new forms of entertainment since it opened in September 2023. Now, generative AI will take center stage, alongside Dorothy, Toto and more munchkins than could ever fit in a multiplex. It's fitting that a work that once broke cinematic boundaries will do so again. "The Wizard of Oz at Sphere" is an equally epic undertaking of creativity and technology, where the story will envelop the venue's 17,600-seat spherical space to create an immersive sensory experience. Even a few years ago, such an undertaking would have been nearly impossible with conventional CGI. It's really only become possible through the latest advances in generative AI media models, specifically Imagen and Veo, with Gemini also playing a major role. Not only does the team need to create an all-encompassing experience, but they also must do so with only the original material. Not a line of new dialogue was added nor a note of new music was sung in enriching this classic for Sphere. "We talked about doing it in different ways," says Jane Rosenthal, the Academy and Emmy Award-nominated producer who is a producer on "The Wizard of Oz at Sphere." "We realized that we really needed to do it with AI." Not that the team can simply enter a few AI prompts, click their collective heels and call it a day. Buzz Hays, the global lead for entertainment industry solutions at Google Cloud and a producer with 37 years in Hollywood, points out this is about more than using AI to expand an old film for a new format. "We're starting with the original four-by-three image on a 35mm piece of celluloid -- it's actually three separate, grainy film negatives; that's how they shot Technicolor," Hays says. "That obviously won't work on a screen that is 160,000 square feet. So we're working with Sphere Studios, Magnopus and visual effects artists around the world, alongside our AI models, to effectively bring the original characters and environments to life on a whole new canvas -- creating an immersive entertainment experience that still respects the original in every way." When the project was first getting underway, there were many on the team, including within Google, who openly wondered if AI technology was there yet to complete the work or achieve the group's collective vision. But because traditional CGI wouldn't do the trick, at least not without massive expense and years of toil -- and because everyone was excited to break new ground -- they got to work. "The models, they're wildly innovative," Dr. Steven Hickson, a Google DeepMind researcher on the project, says. "We'd find something we can't do, we think it's impossible, and then a month later we're like, actually, maybe we can do that." You can see why it seemed impossible, though. Magnifying the original grainy images for Sphere's 16K LED screen -- the highest resolution screen in the world -- was the first but far from the only challenge. The team also had to account for all the camera cuts in a traditional film that remove characters from parts of certain scenes, which wouldn't work at the new, theatrical scale that was envisioned. Conventional CGI might have handled the scaling issue, but there are few ways it could fill out the rest of the scenes effectively. Take the moment where the Cowardly Lion first pounces on his soon-to-be companions. The camera pans back and forth between the Scarecrow and Tin Man, with cuts to Dorothy hiding behind a tree in the distance. The experience at Sphere called for keeping all these elements together, in hyper-realistic detail. To achieve this, the team has three major technical hurdles to overcome. Using versions of Veo, Imagen and Gemini specially tuned for the task, the Google teams and their partners developed an AI-based "super resolution" tool to turn those tiny celluloid frames from 1939 into ultra-ultra-high definition imagery that will pop inside Sphere. Then, the teams perform AI outpainting, to expand the scope of scenes to both fill the space and fill in the gaps created by camera cuts and framing limitations. Finally, through performance generation, they're incorporating composites of those famed performances into the expanded environments. Together, these techniques help achieve the natural gestures, staging and fine details that conventional CGI struggles to match. "When the request came to us, I was almost jumping up and down," says Dr. Irfan Essa, a principal research scientist at Google DeepMind and director of its Atlanta lab. "This is the best opportunity to showcase the magic that we develop using AI." Yet for all the powerful new technology at play, one of the biggest breakthroughs comes from following the traditions of cinema: having plenty of extra material to work with. In addition to old footage, the team scoured archives to build a vast collection of supplementary material, such as the shooting script, production illustrations, photographs, set plans and scores. Through a process known as fine-tuning, these materials are uploaded to Veo and Gemini so the models can train on specific details of the original characters, their environments and even elements of the production, like camera focal lengths for specific scenes. With far more source material than just the 102-minute film to work with, the quality of the outputs dramatically improved. Now, Dorothy's freckles snap into focus and Toto can scamper more seamlessly through more scenes. Every change, Hays notes, was made in close collaboration with Warner Bros., to ensure continuity with the spirit of the original. As the team continues their journey with this truly larger-than-life project, many are still in awe at all they've achieved -- and excited about what is still yet to come. "When you have innovation like this, you don't always know where it's going to go," says Jim Dolan, Executive Chairman and CEO of Sphere Entertainment. "You have to be able to take a leap of faith. What you're going to see in 'The Wizard of Oz at Sphere' is clearly a leap of faith."

Google uses AI wizardry to recreate 'The Wizard of Oz' in fully immersive 3D - SiliconANGLE

Google uses AI wizardry to recreate 'The Wizard of Oz' in fully immersive 3D The Wizard of Oz is being transformed into an immersive 3D experience unlike anything anyone has ever seen, thanks to the use of entirely new artificial intelligence techniques that enhance its resolution and generate additional scenery to fit a gigantic, wraparound LED display. Sphere Entertainment Co., operator of The Sphere in Las Vegas, said it teamed up with Google LLC and Warner Bros. Studios Inc. to recreate the timeless 1939 classic, transforming it into a "multisensory experience" that promises to immerse viewers in the story like never before. The reproduction, known as "The Wizard of Oz at Sphere," will open to audiences on August 28. The producers leveraged some of Google's most advanced AI models to completely reimagine the classic movie, in a collaboration that marks the beginning of a much broader push into entertainment by the technology giant. Recreating the Wizard of Oz for a 3D environment was not easy. The original flick was shot using a three-strip Technicolor 35 millimeter motion picture camera, which was state-of-the-art at the time but couldn't be more outdated today. Getting that to fit on Sphere's 160,000-square-foot curved, 16K resolution display proved to be a monumental challenge, but Google's AI was more than up to the task. The 17,600-seat Sphere is an enormous globe structure that's wrapped in a kind of LED display exoskeleton, making it one of the world's most unique venues. It has previously hosted immersive concerts by performers like the Eagles and U2, and has shown a number of movies that were created especially for its immersive screen. But its operators had never tried to adapt an existing film to fit its unusual characteristics. However, Sphere decided to take on that challenge after landing a licensing deal with Warner Bros, giving it the right to adapt its movie content. The company then turned to Google, asking it to use its AI wizardry to make the magic happen. Steven Hickson, who is the director for AI foundation research at Google DeepMind, described the immense challenges his team faced in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. "There are scenes where the scarecrow's nose is like 10 pixels. That's a big technological challenge," he said. Google decided that only its most advanced large language models, such as Gemini, Veo 2 and Imagen 3, were up to the task of rendering the Wizard of Oz in all of its immersive, 3D glory, but they alone are not enough. In addition, they had to devise new techniques such as "performance generation" and "outpainting" to increase the film's resolution and extend scenes to include imagery and characters that didn't exist on the original flick. That was necessary to make the movie fit with the Sphere's novel screen, which totally surrounds the viewer to make them appear as if they're right in the middle of the movie. Hickson said that in one scene, the movie's star Dorothy is talking to Aunt Em and Miss Gulch, and it's known by the viewer that Uncle Henry is in the room too. But in the original, Uncle Henry was not on camera. In the Sphere's version, viewers will be able to turn around and see Uncle Henry, along with the rest of the house that was not pictured in the original scene. These elements were all generated using AI, Google said. Ravi Rajamani, global head of generative AI engineering at Google Cloud, said more than 90% of the movie has been touched by AI. There will also be other AI-generated sensory elements for viewers to enjoy, but Sphere is yet to reveal what they are. Google partnered with the Los Angeles-based immersive studio company Magnopus LLC on the project, and also consulted with professional Hollywood producers including the Oscar-nominated Jane Rosenthal. "The power of generative AI, combined with Google's infrastructure and expertise, is helping us to achieve something extraordinary," said Sphere Chief Executive Jim Dolan.

The Wizard of Oz has been revamped with AI for 16K monster LED screen of the Las Vegas Sphere

TL;DR: An AI-enhanced version of The Wizard of Oz will be screened on the Sphere, a giant 16K LED screen in Las Vegas from August 28. This project, involving Google, Warner Bros, and many others, uses generative AI to visually enhance the classic film without altering its script or music, promising a faithful, yet seriously immersive, experience. You aren't in Kansas anymore, you're in Las Vegas - or you might be in August, watching an AI-revamped version of The Wizard of Oz that'll likely blow you away hurricane-style. The iconic movie has been jazzed up with generative AI for screening on the 16K monster LED canvas of the Las Vegas Sphere, and we're betting it'll make quite an impact when the film starts showing on August 28 (as Neowin spotted, and FOX5 Las Vegas reports above). Google tells us: "For months, thousands of researchers, programmers, visual effects artists, archivists and producers at Google DeepMind, Google Cloud, Sphere Studios, Magnopus, Warner Bros. Discovery and others in the film and technology industries have been working to bring the 1939 classic to a very big screen in a very big way." What promises to be an 'immersive sensory experience' is largely driven by the latest in generative AI media models, namely Imagen and Veo, with Google's own Gemini unsurprisingly also playing a substantial supporting role. Google is quick to point out that this isn't about changing the fundamentals of The Wizard of Oz - the script hasn't been touched, or the original music - but rather it's a case of visually embellishing the classic movie. Which makes it sound easy enough, but the company also goes to pains to underline that this was not a simple endeavor, or a matter of formulating a bunch of AI prompts - far from it. The challenges sound pretty immense in terms of blowing up the original grainy movie to something that works on the Sphere's 16K LED screen, and ensuring that the way in which The Wizard of Oz was filmed in terms of camera angles and cuts also suits that huge canvas. The end result sounds like it'll be pretty stunning for fans of the film who want to see it in a very new light in four months' time.

Google's AI Is Bringing 'The Wizard of Oz' to the Las Vegas Sphere

At Google's Cloud Next event on April 8, held within the Sphere, CEO Sundar Pichai announced the collaboration, and showed off a few clips from the new version of the movie. The original movie was, of course, shot on film, and would only fill a fraction of the Sphere's screen if presented without changes. The Wizard of Oz won't be the first movie ever shown at the Sphere, but it will be the first true Hollywood film to screen in the venue. Darren Aronofsky's Postcard from Earth, a film specifically meant to show off the venue's capabilities, plays at the Sphere almost every day, but is more of a visual experience than a theatrical narrative. To expand the movie's aspect ratio so that it would fill the Sphere's 160,000 square foot LED screen while keeping the image clear, Google used AI to generate entirely new pixels. Google calls this process of using AI to boost an image or video's resolution as "super resolution." Google attempted to keep the imagery consistent by training customized versions of its Veo 2 and Imagen 3 AI models on every piece of Wizard of Oz data they could find, from the original film to concept art, and even information regarding the lenses used on the cameras.

Google and Sphere Announce Technology Partnership and Reveal New Details on the AI Technology Behind Upcoming The Wizard of Oz at Sphere - Sphere Entertainment (NYSE:SPHR)

Google named the official AI partner of The Wizard of Oz at Sphere and official AI partner of Sphere Collaboration between Google and Sphere combines immersive entertainment and cutting-edge technology, similar to how the film's use of Technicolor revolutionized movies nearly 90 years ago SUNNYVALE, Calif. and LAS VEGAS, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Google and Sphere Entertainment Co. SPHR today announced a new AI technology partnership to help bring the groundbreaking The Wizard of Oz at Sphere to life using generative AI (gen AI). The project, which involves first-of-its-kind engineering work and thousands of creators, coders, VFX artists, and more, will mark a pivotal moment in entertainment technology - and a leap forward for the future of visual storytelling akin to The Wizard of Oz's use of Technicolor nearly 90 years ago. To present The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, which opens in Las Vegas on August 28, 2025, Google Cloud and Google DeepMind are working together to deploy fine-tuned Gemini models, Veo 2, and Imagen 3 to intelligently enhance the film's resolution, extend backgrounds, and digitally recreate existing characters who would otherwise not appear on the same screen. Sphere is also using Google Cloud's highly scalable and AI-optimized infrastructure to support the massive data and computational demands in building its immersive experiences, with The Wizard of Oz at Sphere processing 1.2 petabytes of data over the course of the project to date. "The power of generative AI, combined with Google's infrastructure and expertise, is helping us to achieve something extraordinary," said Jim Dolan, Executive Chairman and CEO, Sphere Entertainment. "We needed a partner who could push boundaries alongside our teams at Sphere Studios and Magnopus, and Google was the only company equipped to meet the challenge on the world's highest resolution LED screen." "Our partnership with Sphere on The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is a great example of pushing the boundaries of generative AI to deliver exciting new experiences for audiences - and new opportunities for studios and filmmakers," said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. "We are honored to play a role in such an ambitious project to bring a classic piece of Americana to an entirely new generation of audiences." Using Google AI to bring The Wizard of Oz at Sphere to Life Originally released in 1939, The Wizard of Oz was filmed using a revolutionary, three-strip Technicolor 35mm motion picture camera and was only the third Hollywood production to bring this amazing color process to cinema audiences. Nearly 90 years later, Sphere will bring an immersive version of The Wizard of Oz to its 160,000-square-foot interior display plane, using Google AI alongside traditional VFX and film techniques to faithfully expand scenes and enhance characters to deliver a never-before-seen experience that is only possible at Sphere. Google Cloud and DeepMind are pushing the boundaries of gen AI, employing Gemini, Veo and Imagen models, as well as Google Cloud infrastructure such as the company's custom AI accelerators, Tensor Processor Units (TPUs), Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), and more. Key techniques being used for the film include: Super Resolution: Veo is being used to intelligently enhance the film's resolution, filling in missing pixels and creating an ultra-crisp 16k image, essential for Sphere's 16k x 16k resolution interior display plane. This process requires sophisticated algorithms capable of understanding and reconstructing intricate details, including landscapes, scenery, and even characters from the original film.Outpainting: To expand the film's visual scope for Sphere's immersive environment, Veo are being used to seamlessly extend the backgrounds and characters, creating the feeling that audiences are there with the characters. This involves generating coherent and consistent foreground and midground elements that were true to the original film.Performance Generation: Using Veo for generation - combined with Gemini for instructions - the team developed innovative storytelling techniques that allow multiple characters to remain on screen for extended periods, even when traditional editing would have dictated cuts. This enhances the audience's immersion, making them feel like they were part of the epic journey.Context Window: Gemini and Veo's extra-long context window capabilities are crucial for maintaining coherence across extended sequences. This allows for the processing of massive datasets, ensuring that the enhanced visuals remain consistent throughout the film. About Google Cloud Google Cloud accelerates every organization's ability to digitally transform its business. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology - all on the cleanest cloud in the industry. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems. About Sphere Sphere is a next-generation entertainment medium that is redefining the future of live entertainment. A venue where the foremost artists, creators, and technologists create extraordinary experiences that take storytelling to a new level and transport audiences to places both real and imagined. The venue hosts original Sphere Experiences from leading Hollywood directors; concerts and residencies from the world's biggest artists; and premier marquee events. The first Sphere venue opened in Las Vegas in September 2023, and is a new Las Vegas landmark, powered by cutting-edge technologies that ignite the senses and enable audiences to share experiences at a never-before-seen scale. More information is available at thesphere.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/google-and-sphere-announce-technology-partnership-and-reveal-new-details-on-the-ai-technology-behind-upcoming-the-wizard-of-oz-at-sphere-302422950.html SOURCE Google Cloud SPHRSphere Entertainment Co$26.06-4.09%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? 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Google and Sphere Announce Technology Partnership and Reveal New Details on the AI Technology Behind Upcoming The Wizard of Oz at Sphere By Investing.com

Collaboration between Google and Sphere combines immersive entertainment and cutting-edge technology, similar to how the film's use of Technicolor revolutionized movies nearly 90 years ago SUNNYVALE, Calif. and LAS VEGAS, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Google and Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE: SPHR) today announced a new AI technology partnership to help bring the groundbreaking The Wizard of Oz at Sphere to life using generative AI (gen AI). The project, which involves first-of-its-kind engineering work and thousands of creators, coders, VFX artists, and more, will mark a pivotal moment in entertainment technology " and a leap forward for the future of visual storytelling akin to The Wizard of Oz's use of Technicolor nearly 90 years ago. To present The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, which opens in Las Vegas on August 28, 2025, Google Cloud and Google DeepMind are working together to deploy fine-tuned Gemini models, Veo 2, and Imagen 3 to intelligently enhance the film's resolution, extend backgrounds, and digitally recreate existing characters who would otherwise not appear on the same screen. Sphere is also using Google Cloud's highly scalable and AI-optimized infrastructure to support the massive data and computational demands in building its immersive experiences, with The Wizard of Oz at Sphere processing 1.2 petabytes of data over the course of the project to date. "The power of generative AI, combined with Google's infrastructure and expertise, is helping us to achieve something extraordinary," said Jim Dolan, Executive Chairman and CEO, Sphere Entertainment. "We needed a partner who could push boundaries alongside our teams at Sphere Studios and Magnopus, and Google was the only company equipped to meet the challenge on the world's highest resolution LED screen." "Our partnership with Sphere on The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is a great example of pushing the boundaries of generative AI to deliver exciting new experiences for audiences " and new opportunities for studios and filmmakers," said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. "We are honored to play a role in such an ambitious project to bring a classic piece of Americana to an entirely new generation of audiences." Using Google AI to bring The Wizard of Oz at Sphere to Life Originally released in 1939, The Wizard of Oz was filmed using a revolutionary, three-strip Technicolor 35mm motion picture camera and was only the third Hollywood production to bring this amazing color process to cinema audiences. Nearly 90 years later, Sphere will bring an immersive version of The Wizard of Oz to its 160,000-square-foot interior display plane, using Google AI alongside traditional VFX and film techniques to faithfully expand scenes and enhance characters to deliver a never-before-seen experience that is only possible at Sphere. Google Cloud and DeepMind are pushing the boundaries of gen AI, employing Gemini, Veo and Imagen models, as well as Google Cloud infrastructure such as the company's custom AI accelerators, Tensor Processor Units (TPUs), Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), and more. Key techniques being used for the film include: About Google Cloud Google Cloud accelerates every organization's ability to digitally transform its business. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology " all on the cleanest cloud in the industry. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems. About Sphere Sphere is a next-generation entertainment medium that is redefining the future of live entertainment. A venue where the foremost artists, creators, and technologists create extraordinary experiences that take storytelling to a new level and transport audiences to places both real and imagined. The venue hosts original Sphere Experiences from leading Hollywood directors; concerts and residencies from the world's biggest artists; and premier marquee events. The first Sphere venue opened in Las Vegas in September 2023, and is a new Las Vegas landmark, powered by cutting-edge technologies that ignite the senses and enable audiences to share experiences at a never-before-seen scale. More information is available at thesphere.com.

Google and Sphere Announce Technology Partnership and Reveal New Details on the AI Technology Behind Upcoming The Wizard of Oz at Sphere

Google named the official AI partner of The Wizard of Oz at Sphere and official AI partner of Sphere Collaboration between Google and Sphere combines immersive entertainment and cutting-edge technology, similar to how the film's use of Technicolor revolutionized movies nearly 90 years ago SUNNYVALE, Calif. and LAS VEGAS, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Google and Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE: SPHR) today announced a new AI technology partnership to help bring the groundbreaking The Wizard of Oz at Sphere to life using generative AI (gen AI). The project, which involves first-of-its-kind engineering work and thousands of creators, coders, VFX artists, and more, will mark a pivotal moment in entertainment technology - and a leap forward for the future of visual storytelling akin to The Wizard of Oz's use of Technicolor nearly 90 years ago. To present The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, which opens in Las Vegas on August 28, 2025, Google Cloud and Google DeepMind are working together to deploy fine-tuned Gemini models, Veo 2, and Imagen 3 to intelligently enhance the film's resolution, extend backgrounds, and digitally recreate existing characters who would otherwise not appear on the same screen. Sphere is also using Google Cloud's highly scalable and AI-optimized infrastructure to support the massive data and computational demands in building its immersive experiences, with The Wizard of Oz at Sphere processing 1.2 petabytes of data over the course of the project to date. "The power of generative AI, combined with Google's infrastructure and expertise, is helping us to achieve something extraordinary," said Jim Dolan, Executive Chairman and CEO, Sphere Entertainment. "We needed a partner who could push boundaries alongside our teams at Sphere Studios and Magnopus, and Google was the only company equipped to meet the challenge on the world's highest resolution LED screen." "Our partnership with Sphere on The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is a great example of pushing the boundaries of generative AI to deliver exciting new experiences for audiences - and new opportunities for studios and filmmakers," said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. "We are honored to play a role in such an ambitious project to bring a classic piece of Americana to an entirely new generation of audiences." Using Google AI to bring The Wizard of Oz at Sphere to Life Originally released in 1939, The Wizard of Oz was filmed using a revolutionary, three-strip Technicolor 35mm motion picture camera and was only the third Hollywood production to bring this amazing color process to cinema audiences. Nearly 90 years later, Sphere will bring an immersive version of The Wizard of Oz to its 160,000-square-foot interior display plane, using Google AI alongside traditional VFX and film techniques to faithfully expand scenes and enhance characters to deliver a never-before-seen experience that is only possible at Sphere. Google Cloud and DeepMind are pushing the boundaries of gen AI, employing Gemini, Veo and Imagen models, as well as Google Cloud infrastructure such as the company's custom AI accelerators, Tensor Processor Units (TPUs), Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), and more. Key techniques being used for the film include: About Google Cloud Google Cloud accelerates every organization's ability to digitally transform its business. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology - all on the cleanest cloud in the industry. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems. About Sphere Sphere is a next-generation entertainment medium that is redefining the future of live entertainment. A venue where the foremost artists, creators, and technologists create extraordinary experiences that take storytelling to a new level and transport audiences to places both real and imagined. The venue hosts original Sphere Experiences from leading Hollywood directors; concerts and residencies from the world's biggest artists; and premier marquee events. The first Sphere venue opened in Las Vegas in September 2023, and is a new Las Vegas landmark, powered by cutting-edge technologies that ignite the senses and enable audiences to share experiences at a never-before-seen scale. More information is available at thesphere.com.