I created Me, the Puzzle from a deeply personal place.

I live with bipolar disorder, and one of the ways I experience it is through a fragmented sense of identity. Different emotional states can feel like different versions of myself, each holding its own memories, perceptions, and relationship with the world. When those states change, continuity does not always come naturally. I often feel as if I am trying to reconstruct myself from pieces that no longer fit together as easily as they once did.

My memory is fragmented as well. Experiences remain with me unevenly: some are vivid, others incomplete, and some feel almost inaccessible. At the same time, I have aphantasia—the inability to voluntarily form mental images. I cannot simply close my eyes and clearly picture myself, a place, or a memory. For me, remembering and rebuilding an internal sense of self is less like replaying a film and more like assembling something from scattered traces.

That is where the idea for Me, the Puzzle came from.

The application uses your phone’s camera to turn your live reflection into a shattered puzzle. Instead of reconstructing an abstract photograph, you reconstruct yourself in real time. Every piece contains part of the camera image, moving with depth, light, distortion, chromatic aberration, reflections, and occasional digital glitches. As the pieces connect, the fragmented image gradually becomes whole again.