Sudoku solves computing puzzle

A method of creating colour-coded Sudoku puzzles could help open the door to a radical new method of computer modelling

Researchers at Warwick University’s Department of Computer Science developed a colour based Sudoku Puzzle to help Sudoku players solve traditional Sudoku puzzles. But doctoral researcher Antony Harfield believes the colour Sudoko could also be a way of exploring how logic and perception interact using a radical approach to computing called Empirical Modelling. The method can be applied to other creative problems and he is exploring how this experimental modelling technique can be used in educational technology and learning.

The interplay between logic and perception, as it relates to interactions between computers and humans, is a key element in artificial intelligence, computer graphics, and educational technology. The interaction between the shifting colour squares and the logical deductions of the Sudoku puzzle solver is a good illustration of the unusual quality of this ‘Empirical Modelling’ approach, which can help illustrate complex systems involving new technology.