After a two-year expansion the New Museum opened its doors to the public with a new exhibition titled 'New Humans: Memories of the Future'.

The show questions what it means to be human 'in the face of sweeping technological changes'.

I helped maintain and monitor Anicka Yi’s featured project: In Love With The World.

Yi's piece features two flying sculptures called Aerobes, and a complex system of hardware and software that allows them to independenly float through the exhibition space.

As one of the Lead Technologists for this project, I was responsible for monitoring and maintaining Yi's work throughtout the duration of the exhibit, from March to end of August 2026.

Other than being able to say I'm a drone operator on weekends (amazing flex if you are a creative technologist), the gig involves troubleshooting, monitoring, and fixing the projects' software and hardware.

‍Motion Capture & Tracking [OptiTrack]: tracking the Aerobes' location with 12 motion tracking cameras.

Autonomous Flight Control: [AirFX, Unreal Engine] to manage Aerobes autonomous flight.

Each Aerobe has a battery that powers the propellers used for flying, and the pair of servo motors in each tentacle.

Each Aerobe is filled with Helium to offset some of the weight. Fun fact: With Helium, each Aerobe weights only about 20grams.

Aerobes can fly automatically with Sitara's and AirStage's custom software, or be controlled manually with a standard drone controller.

When flying automatically, we use Motion Tracking software called OptiTrack Motive to determine the Aerobe's location in the gallery. Custom Unreal Engine Software then allows them to autonomously navigate in the space.