Wide angle shot of three interactive Christmas trees located in the Central Court of Brookfield Mall in Natick Massachusetts. The central tree is a 22 foot tall tree-like structure covered in LED bulbs that react to a person inside the tree

The Wishing Forest

The Wishing Forest is a series of installations that are playful twists of classic holiday trees. Whether it’s a tree that is lit up with 25,000 individually addressable LEDs that react to an ornament flying through pneumatic tubes, or a 30 foot bell that creates a symphony of chimes triggered by body movement - these are holiday displays that you can interact and create with. We invite you to try forest groves inspired by the mechanical magic of classic coin op arcades and music boxes; to make your own memories in crafted sets; and to create your own forest scape with trees that analyze the rhythmic properties of your voice. This holiday, don’t just walk by holiday displays: run through them, talk like a forest animal, light up the trees, and ring a thousand bells at once.

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To make each wish feel special we devised a system to lift your ornament up into the tree using pneumatic tubes. On its way the ornament lights up a chandelier of twinkling LEDs with sensors, animations and dare we say, a little holiday magic.

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The Bells Grove is where you can run around like a crazy person to play music and light up 600 lights with your movement and run into a few surprises along the way.

Wide shot of the Holiday Bell Grove located in the Magnificent Room at the SoNo Mall in Norwalk Connecticut. One large central bell with reactive light bulbs dangling from each arm. Six gold mini bells hang around the central bell.
Reactive light bulbs hang from each arm of the large central bell
Several gold arms create a bell-like structure with addressable light bulbs hanging from each arm
Girl runs underneath large central bell as motion sensors track her movements. She triggers sound and light from underneath the bell arms.
Center column at Natick Mall animating The Wishing Forest woodland creatures
Gold tube to whisper your wish in to
Girl whispers her wish into golden tube attached to a tree in the LIstening Grove
Large gold crank to turn to activate the music box giving grove display
Gold accent top of mini tree inside the music box
Entrance to the wishing tree grove at Natick Mall
Girl is standing inside a interactive Christmas tree starting up at an LED chandelier wrapped around a pneumatic tube waiting for the LEDs that wrap around the interior walls to light up
Girl stares up at chandelier inside the wishing tree
Interior view of LED Chandelier and pneumatic tube inside the wishing tree
Red LED Ornmaent cascades down the pneumatic tube inside the wishing tree

Created by

  • Two Things - Creative Agency
  • Red Paper Heart - Interactive Design Studio

RPH Team

  • Zander Brimijoin - Creative Director
  • Daniel Scheibel - Technology Director
  • Lisa Walters - Executive Producer
  • Erin Stowell - Sr Producer
  • Greg Schomburg - Lead Developer
  • Shuvashis Das - Developer
  • Andrew Cotter - Developer
  • Matt K Ross - Developer
  • Danni Huang - Art Direction, Design & Animation
  • Nicole DiLeo - Design & Animation
  • Jiwon Ham - Design & Animation
  • ---
  • with
  • David Crumley - LED Systems
  • PiotrWorks - Product Design
  • Plan 8 - Sound Design
  • KadaN Productions - Fabrication
  • Standard Transmission - Fabrication
  • The New Motor - Fabrication
  • Machine Histories - Fabrication
  • Joseph Nero Studio - Fabrication

Created for Brookfield Retail Properties

  • installed at
  • The Natick Mall, Natick, MA
  • Sono Collection, Norwalk, CT