Make A Wish.

Make A
Wish.

What if technology could sense your wish for someone you care about? Make a Wish is an interactive digital candle designed to celebrate others. When you blow on it, the flame softly fades and a burst of light appears, turning a simple gesture into a heartfelt way to send warmth and celebration to someone far away.

Physical Computing

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ESP32

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Sensor Integration

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Blender

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Real-Time Interaction

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Emotional UX · Prototyping

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Scope

Tangible Interaction

Role

Concept / Interaction / Visual / Motion Designer

Duration

2 weeks

Year

2025

Concept

(01)

Rituals are disappearing in digital spaces.

I wanted to see if the warmth of a birthday candle could survive translation into code. Make A Wish is an interactive object that allows users to perform the physical act of "blowing out" a digital flame to send a signal of care across distance.

Process

(02)

How I Built It

I needed to detect the physics of breath, not just the sound.

Sensor Choice: I prototyped with microphones, but they were triggered by ambient noise. I switched to a Flex Sensor mounted vertically. It detects the physical pressure of the air stream (the "wind"), creating a silent, tactile trigger that mimics the physics of a real flame.
Architecture: ESP32 (Hardware) → Python Serial Bridge → Blender (Real-time Render).
Visuals: I modeled a custom strawberry-shaped candle in Blender. A Python script listens to the serial port; when the sensor bends past a threshold, it triggers a particle system and extinguishes the light source in real-time.

I needed to detect the physics of breath, not just the sound.

Sensor Choice: I prototyped with microphones, but they were triggered by ambient noise. I switched to a Flex Sensor mounted vertically. It detects the physical pressure of the air stream (the "wind"), creating a silent, tactile trigger that mimics the physics of a real flame.
Architecture: ESP32 (Hardware) → Python Serial Bridge → Blender (Real-time Render).
Visuals: I modeled a custom strawberry-shaped candle in Blender. A Python script listens to the serial port; when the sensor bends past a threshold, it triggers a particle system and extinguishes the light source in real-time.

Flex Sensor

Microphone Sensor

Prototype

(03)

Make a wish

The Interaction

Ignite: A physical potentiometer allows the user to "strike a match" (turn up the brightness).
Wish: The user leans in and blows.
Extinguish: The digital flame flickers in response to the breath intensity before vanishing into a cloud of particles.

The Interaction

Ignite: A physical potentiometer allows the user to "strike a match" (turn up the brightness).
Wish: The user leans in and blows.
Extinguish: The digital flame flickers in response to the breath intensity before vanishing into a cloud of particles.

Reflection

(04)

What I Learned

Poetic Computing: It proves that digital interactions can be soft, intimate, and whimsical.
Alternative Input: It moves away from "tapping glass" to using natural biological functions (breath) as a controller.

Poetic Computing: It proves that digital interactions can be soft, intimate, and whimsical.
Alternative Input: It moves away from "tapping glass" to using natural biological functions (breath) as a controller.

Flex Sensor

Microphone Sensor

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