WorkRed Paper Heart
Energy Quest 2.0
Fill a vessel with energy, pour it into the table
- Role
- Lead developer
- Year
- 2026
- Studio
- Red Paper Heart
- Technology
- TouchDesigner, Unreal Engine, Cinder, RFID, Orbbec depth camera, ArUco markers, Multitouch, LEDs, Web CMS, Mango Monitor
Overview
Energy Is All Around Us is the entrance exhibit of Energy Quest at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. It's an introduction to how much energy there is around us, if we had the means or the will to harness it.
At the center is a large multitouch table, ringed by stations for geothermal, wind, hydro and solar power. Visitors pick up an energy vessel, fill it at a station, carry it back to the table and pour it in. The vessel is always empty; the energy is virtual. RFID sensors notice when a vessel is at a station, and an Orbbec depth camera hidden in the LED world cube above the table follows the ArUco markers on each one, so the table knows where it's being poured. Each pour shows the visitor how much they added.
The table is a swirling pool of energy blocks: a 36 by 48 grid, 1,728 in all, together the energy it takes to power the world for a day. As blocks pile up they lock into place and the table slowly fills. When it holds a full day's worth, the blocks are pulled up into the world cube, a few facts about the world's energy play out, and the table resets for the next crowd.
It was one part of Energy Quest 2.0, Red Paper Heart's refresh of the 15-year-old exhibit: new signage and a new palette for the whole area, plus Energy Shots, a video piece on near-future energy projects.
It opened in 2026 and is still waiting on proper documentation, so for now these are mostly behind-the-scenes shots from the install. Better yet, if you're near New York, go fill a vessel yourself.
My role
I was lead developer on Energy Is All Around Us. I built the parts visitors see light up, and co-developed the backend with our technical director.
- Built the energy table: the swirling pool of blocks, the pours and the day-by-day fill
- Built the LED world cube above the table and the moment the table's blocks are pulled up into it
- Built the LED strips at the energy stations
- Came up with tracking the vessels by camera: an overhead depth camera following ArUco markers on each one
- Co-developed the backend that tracks every vessel's energy and links the apps together; our technical director did most of that work
- Made it the first install of Mango Monitor, our watchdog app for keeping exhibits running