Make
A Wish
Make
A Wish
Make
A Wish
What if technology could feel the weight of a moment before letting it go?
Hold & Release is an interactive message ritual that translates emotion into motion, where holding becomes remembering, and release becomes letting go.
What if technology could feel the weight of a moment before letting it go?
Hold & Release is an interactive message ritual that translates emotion into motion, where holding becomes remembering, and release becomes letting go.

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Concept
(01)
What if physical gestures could become emotional data?
What if physical gestures could become emotional data?
Hold & Release transforms a simple gesture, holding and letting go, into a poetic interaction between human emotion and machine response.
Through touch, tension, and time, it visualizes how we hold onto memories and eventually release them.
The experience unfolds in three emotional stages:
Hold: the user’s grasp activates a glowing motion, embodying presence and attachment.
Release: as the touch loosens, motion fragments scatter, mirroring the act of letting go.
Remember: the visuals linger as faint traces, a digital echo of what once was.
It’s not about control, but about surrender, where technology becomes a medium for reflection and emotional transition.
Hold & Release transforms a simple gesture, holding and letting go, into a poetic interaction between human emotion and machine response.
Through touch, tension, and time, it visualizes how we hold onto memories and eventually release them.
The experience unfolds in three emotional stages:
Hold: the user’s grasp activates a glowing motion, embodying presence and attachment.
Release: as the touch loosens, motion fragments scatter, mirroring the act of letting go.
Remember: the visuals linger as faint traces, a digital echo of what once was.
It’s not about control, but about surrender, where technology becomes a medium for reflection and emotional transition.
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System Design
(02)
How I Built It
How I Built It
This prototype connects a flex sensor to an ESP32 to “feel” a hold, translates that input to p5.js visuals, and drives a small motor to signal release. The system is simple on purpose: minimum hardware, maximum emotion.
This prototype connects a flex sensor to an ESP32 to “feel” a hold, translates that input to p5.js visuals, and drives a small motor to signal release. The system is simple on purpose: minimum hardware, maximum emotion.
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Interaction Snapshot
(03)
What does it feel like to hold and let go?
What does it feel like to hold and let go?
The experience unfolds through a tactile ritual.
As the user holds the object, the system senses subtle tension, light gathers and breathes on screen, visualizing presence.
When the user releases, vibration travels through the motor and the glowing motion scatters, mirroring the act of letting go.
Finally, in remember, fragments linger and fade, leaving behind a quiet trace, a digital echo of emotion once held.
The experience unfolds through a tactile ritual.
As the user holds the object, the system senses subtle tension, light gathers and breathes on screen, visualizing presence.
When the user releases, vibration travels through the motor and the glowing motion scatters, mirroring the act of letting go.
Finally, in remember, fragments linger and fade, leaving behind a quiet trace, a digital echo of emotion once held.
Opener
(The object glows like LA sunlight)
Opener
(The object glows like LA sunlight)
Opener
(The object glows like LA sunlight)
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Outcome
(04)
Technology that feels, not just functions.
Technology that feels, not just functions.
The result is an interactive system where touch, motion, and memory converge into an emotional interface.
Through the synchronized response of light, vibration, and time, Hold & Release transforms data into feeling, turning a simple gesture into an act of reflection.
The result is an interactive system where touch, motion, and memory converge into an emotional interface.
Through the synchronized response of light, vibration, and time, Hold & Release transforms data into feeling, turning a simple gesture into an act of reflection.
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Reflection
(05)
What I Learned
What I Learned
Hold & Release taught me that interaction design can express emotion through subtle physical gestures, not by adding complexity, but by amplifying sensitivity.
I learned how to translate intangible feelings into sensory feedback, connecting hardware and code with human emotion.
More importantly, I realized that designing for emotion is about creating moments of reflection, not reaction, letting technology breathe, pause, and feel alongside us.
Hold & Release taught me that interaction design can express emotion through subtle physical gestures, not by adding complexity, but by amplifying sensitivity.
I learned how to translate intangible feelings into sensory feedback, connecting hardware and code with human emotion.
More importantly, I realized that designing for emotion is about creating moments of reflection, not reaction, letting technology breathe, pause, and feel alongside us.
Latest Projects.
(06)
A curated selection of projects that reflect our commitment to simplicity and purposeful design.