Heartbeat Flame Effect

The human heartbeat has 3 main phases, 5 if you get into the finer details. The Crystal Heart has 3 discrete plenums for the distribution of propane gas, mimicking the:

  • Left Ventricle

  • Mitral Valve (between the ventricles)

  • Right Ventricle


For interactivity and what should be a really cool effect, the heart will have a low, nominal flow of propane through all 3 plenums so it’s in a modest, burning state. In addition, 3 vapor accumulators (1 for each plenum) will sit behind solenoid valves holding higher pressure gas behind them.


At a small podium in front of the sculpture, there will be a simple heart rate finger monitor that burners can slip their finger into.



This heart monitor’s signal will feed the input of a small microcontroller (arduino) that will detect the key “zero line” crossings of a normal heartbeat and open/close the 3 solenoid valves in sequence with the heartbeat being read. This will render a burst of pressure (a “poofer effect”) into each of the three parts of the Crystal Heart. The effect will be a 20-foot heart beating in flame along with the burner’s heartbeat.


Poof, poof, poofffff

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