Inspiration

The recent surge in collectible culture, including blind boxes and designer figurines, initially feels harmless and fun. But as we looked closer, we realized how much this craze fuels overconsumption, plastic waste, and short lived novelty. Many of these collectibles are purchased primarily for visual pleasure, briefly displayed, and then stored away or discarded.

At the same time, we grew up loving collectibles like LEGO minifigures, where the real excitement came from the moment of unboxing, the suspense, the reveal, and the emotional payoff. We asked ourselves what if we could preserve that feeling without the physical waste.

With Gemini’s generative and multimodal capabilities, we saw an opportunity to create a digital alternative that delivers the same excitement and attachment while reducing environmental impact. Yumi was born as a way to reimagine collectibles for a digital first, sustainability conscious generation.

What it does

Yumi is a web based platform where users can create, collect, buy, and sell virtual blind box collectibles. It recreates the emotional experience of physical collectibles while removing the need for plastic, storage, or physical production.

Users can design original collectible characters in their own design studios, publish themed character series, open virtual blind boxes with real rarity mechanics, earn in platform coins through collecting and marketplace activity, and watch collectibles come to life using Gemini Veo 3.1.

Yumi includes a built in World Market where users can buy and sell collectible collections created by the community. The Community Collections marketplace allows users to explore different creators, and listings can be filtered by individual design studios, making it easy to discover and support specific artists.

Each series contains six figurines. Three are common, two are rare, and one is legendary. A probability based rarity algorithm determines which character a user receives when opening a blind box, making legendary pulls rare and emotionally rewarding.

Describing the Gemini Integration

Yumi is a full stack web application built with React and Vite for a fast, responsive frontend, Node.js for backend logic and APIs, Firebase Authentication for secure user login, Firestore as the primary database, and Firebase Storage for character assets and media.

Gemini plays a central role in the platform by generating and enhancing collectible designs, powering character animation and visualization through Gemini Veo 3.1, and supporting dynamic content creation within the design studio experience.

We initially prototyped the project using the AI Playground to rapidly test ideas, then migrated the project to Gemini’s Antigravity Studio as we refined our architecture and expanded functionality. Version control and collaboration were managed through GitHub.

To make Yumi easy to access and test, we deployed the application using Firebase Hosting on a public URL. This allows users and judges to explore the platform instantly without any local setup.

Development responsibilities were split by strengths. Arushi led core development, system design, marketplace logic, deployment, and AI integration, while Anika focused on UX design, interaction flow, and emotional engagement across the platform.

Challenges we ran into

A major challenge was translating a physical, tactile experience into a digital one. The excitement of blind boxes depends heavily on timing, anticipation, and visual feedback. We iterated extensively on animations, reveal pacing, and interaction design to ensure the unboxing moment felt authentic.

Another challenge was designing a rarity algorithm that felt fair while still preserving excitement. We carefully tuned probabilities so common pulls feel expected, rare pulls feel lucky, and legendary pulls feel genuinely special without frustrating users.

Building a real time marketplace with filtering by design studio, while keeping state consistent across users, collections, and transactions, required careful database design and frontend state management.

Accomplishments that we’re proud of

We successfully recreated the emotional thrill of blind boxes in a digital format and built a fully functional community driven marketplace where users can buy and sell their own creations. We implemented a probability driven rarity system that mirrors real world collectibles and integrated Gemini Veo 3.1 to bring static characters to life.

We are especially proud that users felt real excitement while testing Yumi. Friends debated which characters they wanted, tracked specific pulls, and celebrated when they finally collected the ones they were hoping for.

What we learned

This project showed us that AI can be used to design emotionally engaging and sustainable digital experiences, not just optimize workflows. We learned how thoughtful interaction design can replace physical ownership while preserving joy and emotional attachment.

On the technical side, we gained experience building AI powered web applications, designing real time marketplaces, managing state across complex user interactions, and integrating generative models into production level systems.

What’s next for Yumi

Next, we plan to expand Yumi into an even richer digital collectibles ecosystem by introducing advanced marketplace features, limited time drops, creator collaborations, deeper animation and interactivity using Gemini Veo, enhanced social features like collection showcases and creator profiles, and tools that help communicate the environmental benefits of digital collecting.

Our long term vision is for Yumi to become a sustainable, creator driven alternative to physical collectibles that preserves the magic of collecting without the waste.