A Peek at Hacking in an Energy Starved Future

In the future, we’ll all live in “Live Cubes,” tiny homes that restrict your energy and water use, meaning hackers will generate their own energy and filter their own water, according to the exhibit, Live Cube, by Jason Anaya, Michael Emono, and Richard Rizzo, students from Cal State East Bay.

The trio built the cube around the idea that the Department of Energy Regulation Protocols (DERP) repossessed the home of an electricity bandit. Within, picking up objects or interacting with the environment triggers audio/visual displays that clue the viewer in to the former owner’s story. It’s mostly powered by embedded LightBlue Beans, and each item is tagged as evidence. An Adafruit Flora embedded in a jacket, for example, asks the wearer to jump up and down, powering LED strips; the video talks about how useful that particular garment would have been during the “energy riots.”

“This project developed from our shared passion in speculative fiction,” the creators write. “We hope to show people a version of how the world could be if we do not change our behavior in respects to the environment and natural resources.”