The Stealth Project
visualised in NOVA space
Planes, missiles and other hardware that deflect or otherwise avoid radar detection were key in the race for world supremacy. Detection avoidance, or stealth technology, was one of many ‘developments’ to emerge from the Cold War.
In the Stealth project, two grids of triggers target and launch missiles across an abstracted 3D space at each other, attempting to avoid radar detection and annihilate the opposition.
However, in contrast to the Mutually Assured Destruction madness of the arms race, the piece acts as a collaborative spatial musical instrument – each ‘missile’ emits sounds based on its relative position and the conditions it encounters along its trajectory.
The Stealth Project was first shown as part of the Cybersonica / French Connection Friday Late at the V&A on 31st october 2008. It was also shown at the Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast from 7 to 29 August 2009 as part of ISEA2009.
Full V&A press release HERE
Videos
Stealth Project from squidie on Vimeo
Images
Flickr slideshows HERE and HERE and HERE
Background
The Stealth Project developed as an offshoot from 'Ocean of Light', a research project exploring the creative possibilities of volumetric (or
3D) visualisation techniques, and nontactile 3-dimensional interaction.
Recent Squidsoup experiments using a Baby NOVA (the physical centrepiece of this project) suggested that this kind of three-dimensional light grid has considerable potential for abstract gaming applications.
NOVA, the world’s first full-colour real 3D LED (light emitting diodes) video screen, was conceived to visualize scientific data dynamically in three dimensions. NOVA is modular and expandable – a NOVA system installed at Zurich’s main train measures 5 x 5 x 1m and consists of 25,000 points of light in 3D space.
Related
Squidsoup blog posts:
http://squidpress.wordpress.com/category/3d-light/
NOVA (3D LED grid):
http://www.nova.ethz.ch/
http://uk.youtube.com/horaoclips
http://www.horao.biz/
Monome (2D LED grid - interface unit)
http://monome.org
Credits
The Stealth Project - by Squidsoup, in collaboration with ETH Zurich and horao GmbH.
Based on research part funded by the Arts Institute at Bournemouth, and with additional support from University of Wales, Newport.
The Stealth Project © Squidsoup.org 2008
NOVA ©ETH Zurich, horao GmbH 2006-2008
The Stealth Project, V&A Museum, London, 31 October 2008
The Gamble room, V&A
Detail - NOVA 3D LED grid
Detail of the NOVA and Dale Chihuly's chandelier
The Stealth Project uses 2 Monome64 devices as interfaces
Setup...