Build a balloon creature simulator for a light sculpture

They used Claude Code to make a Go-based balloon physics simulator with a web front end for a Burning Man totem.

Done with Claude CodeChatGPTClaude in Chrome· Advanced· Aug 2026

What they did
They started with ChatGPT to get reference images and image prompts, then asked Claude Code to build the simulator in Go and wire it to a web interface. The first pass came together quickly, and the next round added more balloons and twist behavior. Claude in Chrome helped place the camel, capture screenshots, use a camera endpoint, and watch a comment box while Claude Code monitored the page.
How it went
The simulator ran and could export models, but the shape still missed the intended look and came out more like a poop emoji mixed with an alien dildo than a Koons-style piece. They eventually moved on to Fusion360 Forms and a balloon-dog tutorial.
Tips
This worked best for a fixed camel shape; making it handle other forms was left unfinished. Pure physics alone was not enough to create the stylized look, so expect to distort the model by hand.

Try it yourself with Claude Code

Help me build a balloon-style simulator for my [project/object]. Use my reference images in [folder] to create a first version of the model and a simple web page that shows it. After each change, take a screenshot, compare it to the references, and adjust the geometry or motion. Before any irreversible step like deleting files, exporting final assets, or submitting anything, pause and ask me to approve it. When done, I should be able to open it locally, move the camera, and see the model update.

Fill in the [brackets]. Agents can make mistakes, so review anything before it is sent, paid or deleted.

Read the original on news.ycombinator.com ↗

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