Digital Fukuwarai
Tele-Jigsaw Puzzle

1999

Hiroshi Matoba (JP)

The Japanese have a game called "Fukuwarai" which involves memory and is played most often as part of their New Year celebration. A blindfolded player must attempt to put together a face puzzle, an effort that provides great amusement to those looking on.

Digital Fukuwarai employs high-tech graphic processing technology and expands the classical concept into a game for two players. Each is seated in front of a digital camera which projects their portraits onto a large-format screen facing them. The computer divides up each of the live images into 24 puzzle pieces that are mixed up at random. The two contestants must now attempt to locate the individual segments of their faces within the jumbled images and to use the mouse to reassemble them as quickly as possible.

However, since the puzzle pieces are constantly being recomputed in real time, the digital jigsaw puzzle never becomes fixed in a freeze-frame image. Or, if they wish, the players could also go about constructing a hybrid face using components that do not quite fit together. Introducing the element of the live facial expression brings about a new form of playful interactivity. Digital Fukuwarai can also be played by two persons at different locations via videoconferencing.

This project was made possible through the support of Telekom Austria.