Nubia Labs 2026

Space Computing and the Transversal Power of Digital Art

NUBIA Labs 2026 is an incubation and professional support program aimed at digital art and space computing projects, including technologies such as XR (AR/VR/MR), creative artificial intelligence, interactive real-time installations and immersive environments.

In its 4th edition, it focuses on the incubation of digital art projects working with space computing (XR/AR/MR, creative AI, interactive real-time installations, immersive environments and participatory practices), keeping the program deliberately open to accommodate a wide variety of languages and formats.

As a vertical created by ESPRONCEDA – Institute of Art & Culture, NUBIA Labs connects artistic creation, technology and professional development, making it easier for emerging projects to evolve from prototypes to consolidated cultural proposals prepared for circulation in festivals, museums and other cultural circuits.

 

Programme objectives

The program aims to support project development through an incubation process that combines specialized mentorship, training and public presentation.

Its main objectives are:

  • Incubate existing projects (with prototype or MVP) to turn them into consolidated cultural proposals.
  • Accelerate their technical and artistic maturity through 360o mentorship and improvement sprints.
  • Consolidate the digital art ecosystem in Catalonia with national and international projection.
  • Connect teams with professional networks, festivals and platforms in the creative and technology sector.
    In 2026 the program foresees to incubate between 10 and 15 projects.

 

Selection of projects

The novelty of NUBIA Labs 2026 is that the incubation of projects will be carried out from January. Therefore, the selection of projects by the curatorial team began in the last quarter of 2025. These projects have already received or are receiving incubation support.

These are:

  • Bosc de Missatges – Ariadna Cortés and Luis Sentis
  • Digital Monuments- Love Antell and Lena Trapp
  • Refracciones de un gesto – Ailin Bars
  • Simbiotica – Pol Ros

 

Open call

In March 2026, NUBIA Labs launches an international public call to incorporate 6 to 10 additional projects into the incubation program. The call will be disseminated through local cultural platforms, with special attention to projects linked to the creative ecosystem of Catalonia and international networks (such as XR4Europe).

As a novelty of this edition, the selection process is carried out continuously, allowing projects to be progressively incorporated into the program between March and October 2026. The selected projects will participate in the same process of initial diagnosis, improvement sprints and 360o mentorship as the other incubated proposals.

 

Schedule of the programme

4th quarter 2025

Curatorial preselection of projects and program planning.

January 2026

Official start of the program, onboarding and initial diagnosis of selected projects in 2025.

March – June 2026

Launch of the Open Call for new projects. Continuous selection of projects from the open call and definition of their development plans. Development of improvement sprints and 360o mentoring.

During 2026

Continuous public presentation of incubated projects.

November 2026

Celebration of Demo Day.

November – December 2026

Advanced mentorship and superacceleration process for the three selected projects.

 

Incubation methodology

The program is based on a methodology that combines artistic development, technical support and professional strategy, with a personalized approach adapted to the specific needs of each project.

 

Initial diagnosis

Evaluation of the project status, its degree of technical and artistic maturity, and joint definition of objectives and roadmap.

 

Improvement sprints

Development iterations focused on:

  • user experience in environments
  • space technical stability
  • narrative and conceptual coherence production and assembly processes

These phases are designed in a flexible and personalized way, adapting to the needs and characteristics of each proposal.

 

360º Mentorship

Transversal support in areas such as:

  • technological strategy and project architecture
  • UX/UI and interaction in immersive environments
  • curatorship and conceptual positioning
  • cultural production
  • intellectual property and licenses
  • communication and dissemination
  • insertion in artistic and technological circuits

The methodology incorporates references and learning from international creative innovation programs such as STARTS, NESTA and MIT Media Lab, adapted to the local context and the creative ecosystem of ESPRONCEDA.

 

Programme contents

The program combines specialized training and applied mentorship, aimed at professionalizing digital art projects.

The contents and mentorships are developed in a flexible way and adapted to the specific needs of each project, allowing to accompany creative processes at different levels of maturity.

 

Main areas of work

Programme content outline

  • The program includes mentoring and specialized training in key areas of digital art and space computing, such as:
    Spatial Computing (XR / AR / MR) and technology ethics
  • Immersive narratives and spatial interaction design
  • Real-time prototyping (TouchDesigner / Unity)
  • Creative artificial intelligence for generative art
  • Creative robotics and human-machine choreography
  • Intellectual property and licenses in digital art
  • Business models and sustainability of cultural projects
  • Marketing, pitching and international visibility
  • Distribution in festivals, museums and XR platforms

In NUBIA Labs, space computing and the transversal power of digital art, technological innovation is also understood as cultural innovation, promoting new artistic languages, accessibility, ethics and responsibility in the use of creative technologies.

 

Demo Day

In November 2026, the Demo Day will be held, where the three final projects will be presented, along with a review of previously incubated projects, to professionals from the cultural and technological sector.

 

Jury and selection of outstanding projects

A panel of industry experts selects the 3 projects with the greatest potential.