Fragmented Room

I wanted to create a project that represents identity through space rather than through direct storytelling or character explanation. I became interested in how rooms and objects can function like emotional traces, where disconnected spaces still feel psychologically related. Instead of telling users exactly who the character is, Fragmented Room allows identity to emerge indirectly through fragmented environments, unstable layouts, and the process of reconstruction itself. The act of assembling the room piece by piece reflects how memory and self-perception are often incomplete, nonlinear, and constantly reorganized.

I was also interested in the contrast between familiar domestic spaces and unsettling spatial behavior. Spaces such as dressing rooms, mirrors, bathrooms, and stage areas normally feel ordinary and recognizable, but in this project they become distorted, disconnected, and emotionally unstable. I wanted the environment to feel partially familiar while still creating uncertainty through fragmented object placement and broken spatial continuity. Instead of building a fully realistic simulation, I intentionally focused on atmosphere, spatial tension, and emotional ambiguity, allowing the room itself to communicate psychological instability without relying on explicit narrative exposition.

The project combines physical interaction design, digital 3D modeling, and real-time media systems. The virtual room is modeled in Blender and imported into TouchDesigner, where individual objects can be revealed or hidden in response to user interaction. The physical puzzle board uses magnets embedded inside custom puzzle pieces and reed switches connected to an Arduino Uno. When a user places a puzzle piece into the correct slot, the reed switch is activated and sends serial data into TouchDesigner, triggering the appearance of a corresponding digital object inside the projected environment. The fragmented assembly process is conceptually tied to the project itself, since the room only exists through partial reconstruction and never fully stabilizes into a coherent space.