Reassemble Yourself: Revealing a Portrait Through Gesture
Posted: November 6, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentProject Description
Reassemble Yourself is an interactive portrait that invites participants to explore how their movements can transform their own image. The mystery is a question: How can two hands change the way we see ourselves? Instead of revealing a hidden object, the project reveals a relationship between the participant’s body and a fragmented digital portrait.
The experience begins with a full camera image. On-screen instructions ask participants to face the camera, then introduce their hands one at a time. This opening gives the interaction a clear starting point and explains the controls before the visual transformation begins.
How the Project Works
The project is built in TouchDesigner and uses MediaPipe to detect facial and hand landmarks from a live webcam feed. MediaPipe provides the positions of points such as the wrist, thumb tip, and index fingertip. A Python script turns these positions into control values by calculating the distance and angle between the thumb and index finger.
The two sides of the screen have different roles. The hand on the left controls the size and tilt of the image tiles. Opening or closing the fingers changes their size, while turning the hand changes their tilt. The hand on the right controls the tiles’ shape and rotation. Together, these controls allow participants to reshape their portrait through movement.
A GLSL shader processes the live camera image into a grid of geometric tiles. Each tile contains part of the moving image, so participants can still recognize themselves as the portrait changes. Circular details around the edges emphasize facial features and create additional points of attention.
The opening sequence waits for face detection, followed by the left-side hand and then the right-side hand. After both hands remain visible for approximately two seconds, the full image gradually transitions into the fragmented portrait. Gentle background music accompanies the experience and supports its exploratory atmosphere.
Reflection
One important design decision was to make the interaction softer. Early changes felt too fast, so I reduced the sensitivity and smoothed the control values. This allows the image to respond gradually and makes small movements easier to explore.
Adding the opening sequence also changed the structure of the experience. Previously, participants entered directly into the effect without a clear introduction. The new sequence establishes a beginning and introduces each hand’s role.
For me, the mystery is revealed through learning the relationship between gesture and image. Participants discover that the portrait is something they can continuously reshape. The project turns into their own face an opportunity for curiosity and playful experimentation.
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