The ATLAS Sphere at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport – the world’s busiest airport – is powered by Acquire Digital software

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Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world’s busiest airport, a title that is not easily earned. With over 100 million passengers every year, the airport deserves a stop-and-stare visual experience that gives passengers a trip to remember.

With visual spectaculars in the form of spheres becoming more popular around the world, ATL wanted their own sphere to wow passengers, while sharing important information about their airport.

This sphere needed to be functional as well as great to look at, meaning ATL wanted to plan for stunning visual experiences, useful information about the airport, programmatic advertising and interactive features to ensure the sphere would stand the test of time and be a worthy replacement for the iconic clock tower that stood in the artium for three decades.

The ATLAS Sphere

Built by Capital Signs and powered by Acquire Digital’s content management software StudioDX, the ATLAS sphere takes center stage in the airport’s Domestic Terminal Atrium, exciting and delighting passengers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Acquire Digital worked closely with Capital Signs to help formulate a plan of what will be shown on ATLAS’ screens, ensure automations run smoothly, and plan into the future to ensure ATLAS is an ever-evolving spectacular for many years to come.

A First of Its Kind Airport Install in the United States

The 4.5m sphere and supporting LED displays are powered by StudioDX, the ultimate media server and content management system, designed for high-resolution, multi-zone, fixed install digital displays, where playback quality and flexibility can be combined with ease-of-operation, and a feature-rich CMS.

ATLAS features an immersive 360° audio system, interactive sensors and over 12.5 million LED pixels. It’s made up of four separate screens; the sphere and three supporting screens.

Holding the title of the first digital sphere in a United States airport, ATLAS shares information, entertainment and advertising with passengers, adapting to the time of day, special events and volume of passengers, thanks to StudioDX’s elegant design and scheduling allowing ATL to program and preview content ahead of time.

Precision Source Mapping

StudioDX’s precision source mapping made it easy to set up content zones across the sphere and supporting screens, enabling the beautiful content to be shown off at its full potential. StudioDX allows for playout of multiple sources of up to 8K content, live transformation into hundreds of playout zones, transparent overlaid videos, and synchronization across multiple players.

Precision pixel mapping technology allows for seamless 360-degree content across any layout, meaning content looks great all the way round the LED sphere, and can be synced with the three supporting LED displays. The four screens can also show content independently, allowing for a massive amount of customization and visual experiences.

Personalized Interactions

ATLAS was built to include sensors, meaning passengers can have unique, personalized interactions with the sphere, made possible by StudioDX. Triggered sequences and reactive content are made easy with plugins and API integrations, so ATLAS will be able to react to passengers passing by or spending an extended time admiring the sphere, including content that moves with the viewer, live flight tracking of arrivals and departures on the globe view, plus advertising opportunities through Clear Channel Airports.

The team at Acquire Digital are excited to see all the innovative ways ATL use the ATLAS sphere and are looking forward to supporting them in bringing those ideas to life.