Eric Heller is a professor of physics at Harvard University and an artist who was invited to the Exploratorium for a week-long residency in 2006. While at the Exploratorium, he was joined by colleague and fellow scientist Don Eigler, a physicist known for his imaging of the quantum corral. With Exploratorium staff, Heller constructed an experimental display of quantum waves to create a human-scale immersive experience for museum visitors that mimicked the nanoscale phenomenon.
During his residency, Heller also participated in discussions with filmmaker Stephanie Maxwell and in a lecture in which he discussed the source material for his 2D computer simulations such as the electron flow patterns seen in Transport II.