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EMERGING TECH 
Gesture as Code

Full Escape Room video

For our Emerging Technologies final, we built a technological escape room where puzzles were solved through movement, gesture, and collaboration rather than buttons or text.

TouchDesigner System

My Contribution

 

 

I developed an interactive hand-tracking system in TouchDesigner using a depth camera and custom masking. The system isolates the index finger and thumb, using their distance to control a light-based paintbrush that exists in real space.

 

As users move their hands across the screen, the brush reveals hidden numbers — the solution is not shown, but painted into visibility. There is no cursor or UI. The body is the interface.

 

When a second user enters the frame, the system shifts: the light can be thrown between hands, forcing collaboration. The puzzle cannot be solved alone.

 

To reset the system, users perform a “love sign” gesture, clearing the canvas through a symbolic, non-mechanical action.

 

 

Context

 

 

This puzzle was part of a larger escape room including:

 

  • A wireless Arduino gyroscope cube revealing numbers through rotation

  • A Unity-based switch puzzle

  • A depth-camera slide puzzle controlled without touch

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