Student team presents enchanting light artwork at GLOW Festival

Photos by Bart van Overbeeke.

Is it a smaller version of The Sphere in Las Vegas? A luminous, large bouncy ball? Or is it a little moon? Whatever it is, it is certainly enchanting. In the Anne Frank park, GLOWBLE, a massive luminous sphere measuring 3.5 meters in diameter, will be on display in the coming week, and it was conceived by student team IGNITE, which has been participating in the Eindhoven light festival GLOW for years. 

Acoustic cameras respond to the audience 

The structure is more than just a source of light. The colors and patterns dance on the sphere because the artwork reacts to movements and sounds in the environment, such as those made by the visitors. This is made possible through acoustic cameras that detect sound and translate it into something visible, in this case, the colors of the sphere. GLOWBLE responds not only to the sound level but also to the pitch. Team IGNITE collaborated with the Eindhoven-based company Sorama, founded by TU/e alumnus Rick Scholte, to make this possible. 

1200 LED spots from the TU/e campus were recycled 

"Digitalization can contribute to more remote interaction. We want to use technology in a different way, namely to bring people together," says Teun van Roosmalen, a designer within the team. "It's inspiring to see what happens when visitors stop at the artwork and work together to make GLOWBLE shine." 

The team worked on GLOWBLE for fourteen months. The sphere, weighing around 500 kilograms, features 1200 LED spots. Interestingly, these spots were previously used to illuminate the chimney of the Ketelhuis on the TU/e campus. 

"Our team includes students from various programs within TU/e, from Electrical Engineering to Human Technology Interaction, who collaborate on projects like GLOW," says Lieke Diederen, the communication manager of the Eindhoven student team. 

Luminous paper airplanes 

Team IGNITE can also be found in another location along the GLOW route with a light project. More than 70 luminous "paper airplanes" hover in the air and over the Dommel River near the Van Abbemuseum. They guide visitors. 

The journey of these Paper Trails began a year ago during GLOW 2022 and has been developed since then. Those who arrived at Eindhoven Airport last year could also see the paper airplanes there, where they were used to direct visitors in the right direction. 

Talent Award 

Both GLOWBLE and the Paper Trails are nominated for the GLOW Talent Award. In this competition, seven student teams compete for the audience award. The winner will be announced on November 16th.