Belief Horse is a blog from Noah Norman.

I’m Noah #1. I run a studio called Hard Work Party where I make artworks, installations, and digital objects with complex inner lives.

I’m working on a startup called Third Wave. We’re building immersive, roomscale, multiplayer games with extra magic and no controllers.

I advocate for a spatial internet that reflects our values on Augmented Realist, arguably another blog.

I’m interested in green tech, sustainability, lighting, circadian lighting, art, graphics programming, building science, martial arts, trees, music, and figuring out why I and you do what we do.

I made this for you.

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Other Writing

Highlights:

2023: Generative AI in Production
2023: Mass Interaction Design: One to Many to One
2015: The Map and the Territory: On the Balkanization and Semiotics of Augmented Reality - this was the seed that became Augmented Realist. Arguably predicted NFTs, YMMV, fight me in the comments, etc

Talks, Interviews, and Videos

2025: For Music HackSpace, I gave a talk about using Pydantic for validation in TouchDesigner
2025: For Third Wave, I made a video about how I make apps in TouchDesigner in 2025
2025: At the TouchDesigner Philadelphia meetup, I gave a talk about the hyperparameter search process in the development of new media works: Gradient Descent
2024: I spoke with Derivative, makers of TouchDesigner, about Epoch Optimizer, an installation I built for AWS’s Sustainability Summit
2024: For Third Wave, I made a video exploring TouchDesigner’s suitability for making games
2021: I talked with Interactive Immersive HQ about the use of Python in Elsewhere Sound Space
2021: For Derivative’s InSession series, I talked with the TouchDesigner makers about how I built and ran the live comedy and music extravaganza Elsewhere Sound Space
2020: I talked with Interactive Immersive HQ about UV mapping, unwrapped rendering, LED sculpture, durational, generative design for permanent installation, etc
2018: I talked with psst.one about art stuff
2018: I presented about Navier-Stokes fluid simulation as a ‘hello world’ for GLSL in TouchDesigner at the TouchDesigner Summit Berlin 2018
2018: I led a workshop on Drawing for Plotters with Python at the TouchDesigner Summit Berlin 2018

Previous Work

2024: Co-Founder, CEO: Third Wave
2023: Designer, Developer, Project Lead: Epoch Optimizer, AWS
2022: Johari Window
2022: Designer, Developer: Google Woogle Maker, Google + Deeplocal
2022: Co-Founder, Cheese
2021: Developer, Technical Director: Invisible Frame, Netflix + AV&C
2021: Designer, Developer, Project Lead: Dataviz, NTT Indy 500
2021: Artist, Developer: Entropy
2020: Developer: Lovecraft Country, Sanctum, HBO + The Mill
2020: Designer, Project Lead: Connect4Party Art Ball, The Barnes Foundation
2020: Creator, Creative Director, Developer, Artist, Project Lead: Elsewhere Sound Space
2020-2025: Instructor + Coach, Interactive Immersive HQ
2019: Designer, Developer, Project Lead: Distillation in Waves, Pitchfork
2019: Designer, Developer: Delos Lobby Dataviz, Gensler
2018: Technical Director + Developer: Seeker, AV&C
2017: Designer, Developer, Project Lead: Rosetta Hall, Interior Stellation
2017: Technical Director: Walkbox Shangai, Michael Kors + AV&C
2017: Technical Director: Santtu Mustonen, NYCB Art Series
2017: Technical Director, Timeframe, Giphy
2017: Designer + Developer: Live Room, KEXP
2017: Technical Director, Developer: Nothin’ But Net, Dark Igloo + Giphy
2016: Developer, Tech Director, Project Lead: Adidas Harden Launch, Set Creative
2016: Technical Director: Loop Dreams, Giphy
2016: Technical Director: History of Viacom, Viacom HQ
2016: Technical Director, Developer: Naughty or Nice O’Meter: Macy’s
2015: Designer + Developer: Composition VI, Viacom HQ
2015: Aspects of Spun Polyhedra: Platonics
2014: $10,000: Installation piece for a group show at the Cohen Gallery at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts at Brown University
2014: Designer, Developer, Project Lead: Cloud, WWD + HHC
2013: Designer, Developer, Project Lead: Tubes, Glasslands Gallery
2013: Technical Director, Red Bull Music Academy NYC
2012: National Technical Director, Largetail
2011: Designer, Developer, Project Lead: Vanity Fair + BMW Spotlight on Innovation
2009-2015: Technical Director, F5 Fest
2008: Technical Director, Pictoplasma
2007-2009: Technical Director, Cut&Paste Tour
2005-2006: Technical Director, M3 Summit
2005: Technical Director, Semi-Permanent NYC
2005: Author + Instructor, Noble Desktop
2004: Intern, Sound Design, Turbine (Asheron’s Call 1&2, Lord of the Rings Online, D&D Online)
2003: Night manager, Geoff’s Superlative Sandwiches, Providence, RI
2002-2004: Audio Programmer, CAVE VR environment, Brown University CS
2000-2002: Intern, Sealworks Interactive Studios

Contact Me

I am tremendously accessible.