Big Bang Machine

WHAT IS THE BIG BANG MACHINE?

The ‘Big Bang Machine’ van is a mobile immersive installation that allows visitors to experience a virtual journey through space and time to the origins of our Universe.

Just like on a science-fiction space-time vessel, people of all ages can travel back in time to discover the most violent phenomena in our Universe: gigantic black holes, mergers of stars denser than any imaginable matter, right back to the very first moments of the Cosmos, when the building blocks of matter were formed.

Furthermore, the journey inside the Big Bang Machine helps us understand how listening to the cosmic signals that tell the story of the Universe is intertwined with the study of our planet and the environments in which we live.

 

Who is it for?

Participants (7–8 at a time) inside the van find themselves in a science-fiction setting; thanks to the five screens, they will enjoy an immersive experience of the installation, which lasts around 15 minutes.

The experience is aimed at a wide and diverse audience.The colourful, playful aesthetic, reminiscent of a spaceship, and the animated video spark children’s curiosity.

The themes, which explore the big questions about the cosmos and the frontiers of astrophysics and technology, satisfy the curiosity of adults of all ages.

where can you hop on

All year round, we travel around Italy taking part in science festivals and school events.
Here are some of the stops on our journey:

  • Bright Night, Pisa, September 27th settembre 2024
  • Collega-Menti Festival, Udine, October 18th 2024
  • Comicon, Napoli, May 1-4 2025
  • ET Symposium, Bologna, May 29-30 2025
  • ScienzEstate, Sesto Fiorentino, June 11th 2025
  • Out There, Roma, June 20-22 2025
  • Focus Live, Milano, November 7-9 2025
  • Driin Days Social Circus Festival, Pisa, December 20th 2025
  • Festival di Astronomia, Livorno, May 22-24 2026
  • Fosforo - Festival della Scienza, Senigallia, May 23-24 2026

If you’d like to find out about upcoming events near you, visit our Instagram and Facebook.

If you’re organising a festival or an event and would like the Big Bang Machine contact us.

Partners

The ‘Big Bang Machine’ van was created to bring the study of gravitational waves to the general public, and is designed for informal, leisure and entertainment settings.

The project is curated by the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) with the support of Fondazione Pisa, IVECO and the European Union’s AHEAD 2020 project.