Open Flame

Open Flame is a re-imagined version of a Wi-Fi router, which pairs a network with a candle. To bring up its signal, the candle must be lit. When it is blown out, the network disappears.

Open Flame offers an alternative design for our wireless infrastructures. Rather than the slick, ‘always-on’ devices that we’re used to, this device celebrates intermittence and materiality. What if our technologies were designed to represent our interactions with nature and the environment, rather than relying only on technological systems?