How to Build a Gesture-Controlled Mood Lamp with ESP32

Wave to cycle colors, hold to dim, and save your favorite lighting scenes

ESP32 Smart Home Beginner45 minutes2 components

Updated April 9, 2026

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What you'll build
Wiring diagram
Components needed
Assembly
Pin assignments
Code

What you'll build

In this guide you will build a gesture-controlled mood lamp powered by an ESP32 microcontroller, an APDS-9960 proximity and gesture sensor, and a strip of individually addressable WS2812B LEDs. A simple wave of your hand cycles through color palettes, holding your hand near the sensor smoothly dims or brightens the output, and a double-swipe gesture saves the current color and brightness as a favorite scene you can recall later. The result is an ambient light that feels almost magical to interact with -- no buttons, no app, just natural hand movements.

The APDS-9960 is one of the most versatile low-cost sensors available to makers. It packs gesture detection, ambient light sensing, and proximity measurement into a single breakout board, making it perfect for beginner-friendly projects that still feel polished. You will learn how to initialize the sensor over I2C, interpret its gesture interrupts inside the ESP32's main loop, and translate those events into smooth LED animations using the FastLED library. Along the way you will pick up foundational skills in I2C communication, interrupt-driven programming, and non-blocking animation timing that transfer directly to more advanced ESP32 projects.

By the end of the build you will have a desk-ready lamp that responds to four distinct gestures, stores up to three favorite scenes in the ESP32's non-volatile flash memory, and recovers its last state after a power cycle. The project is an excellent starting point for anyone interested in smart-home hardware because it introduces addressable LED control, persistent storage with Preferences, and sensor fusion concepts you can later extend with Wi-Fi connectivity or voice assistant integration. If you enjoy working with addressable LEDs and the FastLED library, the Plant Disco Guardian is a great next build that adds soil moisture sensing into the mix.

Wiring diagram

React Flow

Components needed

Component	Type	Qty	Buy
APDS-9960 Gesture Sensor	sensor	1	€4.35
WS2812B LED Strip	actuator	1

Prices and availability are indicative and may have been updated by the supplier. Schematik may earn a commission from purchases made through affiliate links.

Assembly

1

Wire sensors and LEDs

Connect APDS-9960 SDA/SCL to GPIO21/GPIO22, INT to GPIO27, and WS2812B DIN to GPIO4.

Tips

Use a common ground between LED strip and ESP32.

Warning

Power the LED strip from a stable 5V source when using many LEDs.

2

Upload and test gestures

Upload the sketch, then swipe left/right to change colors and up/down to adjust brightness.

Tips

Keep your hand 5-10 cm above the APDS-9960 for reliable gesture detection.

Pin assignments

Pin	Connection	Type
GPIO 21	apds9960-1 SDA	I2C
GPIO 22	apds9960-1 SCL	I2C
GPIO 27	apds9960-1 INT	DIGITAL
GPIO 4	ws2812b-1 DIN	DATA

Code

Arduino C++

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#include <Wire.h>
#include <SparkFun_APDS9960.h>
#include <FastLED.h>

#define APDS_INT_PIN 27
#define LED_PIN 4
#define NUM_LEDS 16
#define SDA_PIN 21
#define SCL_PIN 22

SparkFun_APDS9960 apds;
CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];
uint8_t hue = 0;
uint8_t brightness = 140;

void setup() {
  Wire.begin(SDA_PIN, SCL_PIN);
  pinMode(APDS_INT_PIN, INPUT_PULLUP);
  FastLED.addLeds<NEOPIXEL, LED_PIN>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
  FastLED.setBrightness(brightness);
  apds.init();
  apds.enableGestureSensor(true);
}

void loop() {
  if (apds.isGestureAvailable()) {
    int g = apds.readGesture();
    if (g == DIR_LEFT || g == DIR_RIGHT) hue += 24;
    if (g == DIR_UP && brightness < 245) brightness += 10;
    if (g == DIR_DOWN && brightness > 25) brightness -= 10;
    FastLED.setBrightness(brightness);
  }
  fill_rainbow(leds, NUM_LEDS, hue, 4);
  FastLED.show();
  delay(20);
}

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