What does love look like? If you could tell your life’s defining love story and see it materialize right in front of you, how would it twist and wind and bend and flow? Brazilian architect Guto Requena and D3 Studio are turning emotions into physical objects with The Love Project.

Each personalized object is made by mapping the complex emotions of a participant. Sensors are placed on each participant which measure voice, heart rate, and brain activity as the person tells his or her greatest love story.

Through a complex system of digital technology, those measurements are turned into three-dimensional shapes. The data is fed into a graphical algorithm editor where each stream of sensor measurements controls a different aspect of the soon-to-be object’s shape.

The speaker’s voice controls the velocity of the particles and the brain wave measurements control whether the particles attract or repel one another. The speaker’s heart rate determines the thickness of the object.

As the story is told, the object takes shape on a screen in real time. When the speaker is done, a completely unique 3D model has been created from the words and emotions they shared.

Requena didn’t want to simply create abstract forms, however; each Love Project model has a function. The program can produce a fruit bowl, a lamp, or a vase – which one forms is determined by the speaker’s emotions. Once the model has been completed, it can be 3D printed to create an actual, tangible object representing that specific love story.

The team behind the Love Project is working on a mobile phone app that will allow anyone to tell their own love story and see it created on the screen as a 3D model. Users will then have the option to send the model to a 3D printer, creating what will probably be one of the most endearing, personal gifts any person can give to a loved one.