NOVA

NOVA is a 3d voxel display. It was developed by ETH Zurich together with private companies. NOVA at Mainstation Zurich is made of 25'000 voxels (each containing 12 LEDs). It has a refresh rate of 25Hz and a color resolution of 24Bit (16,777,216 colors), which makes it pretty amazing :-).

horao gmbh, an ETH spin-off company, is further developing and marketing NOVA.

official website: www.nova.ethz.ch
vimeo channel

Stuff I did for NOVA (ETH Zurich or clients of horao, incomplete listing):

  • BASELWORLD 2008, Bertolucci - content programming
  • EURO 2008 Flaggenmix, Zürich, 2008 - content programming
  • Media Facades Festival, Berlin, 2008 - content programming, custom software
  • Stuttgarter Symposium, Alban Gerhardt, 2009 - SoundToVisual content programming
  • 2009 Shanghai International Science & Art Exhibition, 2009 - SoundToVisual content programming
  • 5th Anniversary Celebrations of swissnex Singapore, 2009 - SoundToVisual content programming
  • ISEA 2009, Squidsoup@Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast - helping with setup in gallery
  • Nacht der Forschung, Zürich, 2009 - content
  • Installation Technopark Zürich, 2009 - custom software, motion detection
  • ETH unterwegs, 2009 - custom software, vj interface (lemur touchscreen)
  • Große Kunstausstellung 2010, Haus der Kunst, Munich - installation, software, microchip, sensors
  • Media Architecture Biennale, Vienna, 2010 - installation, software, microchip, sensors
  • 5 years NOVA, Zurich Mainstation, 2011 - SoundToVisuals
  • Konzert I with Collegium Novum Zurich, Zurich, 2012 - Visualization / SoundToVisuals
  • Konzert II with Nik Bärtsch, Zurich, 2012 - Visualization / SoundToVisuals


NOVA at Zurich Mainstation.


Rare pic of maintenance at Zurich Mainstation.


Yes, they DO look like ping pong balls.

Realtime visuals on the NOVA (2012, Mainstation Zurich) for Steve Reich's „Different Trains” performed with the Collegium Novum Zürich. Form, colors and transformation of the visuals are being controlled based on the fast fourrier transform algorithm.


Screenshot of NOVA Simulator.


Grosse Kunstausstellung 2010, Munich, installation view.


Baby NOVA at Technopark Zurich (permanent installation). Visuals are generated in real time constantly changing on motion detection.


Shot during setup for Baselworld 2008.

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