# Session 0008.0 — Transcript

> App: human-experience-filter-art
> Start: 2026-06-07T19-42 (PST)
> End: 2026-06-07T22-37 (PST)
> Type: spec
> Status: **FINALIZED**

## Launch prompt

Session opened as `wgl-session-none` (research errand: "Let's find a great public
domain nature video for this project"), then upgraded mid-session to a **spec**
session once the work became tracked. Operator chose "Spec session, comprehensive":
fold the session's POC findings into the design AND resolve the open cosmic-zoom
structure fork.

## Plan

Develop a design revision to the machine-altered-perception design, grounded in a
local POC run this session: (1) Right-axis alteration pipeline; (2) content
structure (cosmic-zoom fork); (3) strictly-PD sourcing.

## Pre-state

- On `feature/simulator-alteration-preview` (session 0007's unmerged design), clean
  tree; `main` at `5290785`.
- Catalog empty; `tools/ingest/internet_archive.py` is the only wired fetcher.
- No ML stack, no ffmpeg in the venv (pure-stdlib project).

## Session arc (uncurated)

1. **PD nature-video research.** Surveyed pools and verified licenses against the
   actual metadata, not marketing. Key finding: **Pexels / Pixabay / Mitch Martinez
   "free 4K" are royalty-free but NOT public domain** (restrict redistribution,
   retain copyright) — exactly the trap the ingest tool's "no explicit license →
   assume PD, verify" flag exists for. Genuinely-PD: NASA/Hubble (cosmos), **NOAA
   Ocean Exploration** (deep sea, global), **NPS/USGS** (US land). Wikimedia nature
   4K timelapses are mostly CC-BY, not PD.

2. **Operator pivot → "cosmic zoom".** Operator proposed a Powers-of-Ten journey
   (space → continents → birds → ocean → abyss → microscopic → cosmos). Brainstormed
   the thesis tension (a scale-journey carries built-in awe vs. the "neutral base"
   thesis) and the cost (per-base pre-bake × altitudes). Surfaced that the *ends* of
   the zoom are strict-PD-rich; the terrestrial *middle* (birds, non-US land) is the
   CC-BY soft spot.

3. **"Can this run locally?" → POC.** Operator's machine: **Mac mini M4 Pro, 64 GB,
   16-core GPU.** Built a throwaway POC in `~/hef-poc/` (outside the repo).
   - *Wrong turns:* `brew install ffmpeg` and `pip install` were **denied by the
     harness** (it blocks package installs) — switched to venv-local `imageio-ffmpeg`
     run by the operator via `!`. zsh **doesn't word-split** unquoted `$EARGS` →
     mangled encoder flags; inlined them. sd-turbo img2img **crashed** ("reshape
     tensor of 0 elements") because `int(steps×strength)=int(2×0.45)=0` denoise steps
     → guarded to ≥1.
   - *Results on an 8s/1080p clip:* deterministic **Dark/Light/Left** grades/overlay
     ~2.4s each (~3× faster than realtime, runtime-capable). **Right** painterly
     restyle (SD img2img on MPS) ~3.4 min/clip and **flickers badly**.

4. **Flicker is disqualifying.** Operator: "crazy and disorienting … this project is
   meant to be peaceful." Prototyped two fixes: (a) a **deterministic** soft-dreamy
   filter (smartblur + RGB bloom — first attempt had a magenta cast from blending on
   YUV chroma planes; fixed by blending in RGB), ~5s, zero flicker by construction;
   (b) **optical-flow keyframe propagation** (EbSynth principle; genuine ebsynth is
   NVIDIA/Windows so implemented with OpenCV Farneback + the diffusers pipeline),
   ~2.7 min/clip, **calm**. Operator chose **AI + flow**.

5. **Spec session (comprehensive).** Upgraded the session via
   `wgl-session-spec-init` → claimed 0008. Resolved the cosmic-zoom fork: operator
   chose a **small NEUTRAL "scales of nature" library** (not a single stitched film).
   Then operator added the **infinite-zoom ring** (AI zoom transitions between
   scales, micro→cosmos wraparound) and the **infinitely-turnable endless encoder**.
   Probed i18n feasibility → **§1.2**: Left HUD is a Pi-rendered **runtime overlay**
   (Pango/HarfBuzz + Noto, annotation-track + per-language string tables), NOT a baked
   per-language video.
   - Wrote `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-06-07-scales-library-and-right-axis-pipeline-design.md`,
     committed on `feature/scales-library-right-axis`.

## Cut state (what landed)

- **PR #6 merged to `main`** (merge `42a72fe`): the design revision doc.
- No spec-RFC submission: this app keeps specs in-repo (`app.json` `contains:["specs"]`),
  so `submit-spec.sh` is N/A — surfaced, not dropped.
- POC artifacts left in `~/hef-poc/` (throwaway, outside repo): `restyle.py`,
  `flow_restyle.py`, and the comparison clips/contact sheets.
- Memory updated: `sub-project-3-player-progress.md` (+ `MEMORY.md` index).

## Deferred decisions

- **Left-HUD treatment conflict (low confidence — flag).** 0008 §1.2 specifies the
  Left HUD as a runtime Pango/HarfBuzz overlay (to keep i18n near-free, per parent
  §10). This **reverses session 0007's decision** to bake the HUD into the 5×5
  variant grid for authorial precision. I recommended the runtime-overlay path
  following the operator's i18n question without flagging the 0007 reversal at the
  time. `main` now carries the runtime-overlay position; the unmerged
  `feature/simulator-alteration-preview` carries baked-HUD. **Reconciliation deferred
  to next session** (pick one, or hybrid: authored positions + runtime-shaped text).

## Next /goal

```
/goal Reconcile the 0007 simulator-alteration-preview design (feature/simulator-alteration-preview, UNMERGED) with the merged 0008 scales-library + flow-stabilized Right-axis design — resolve the Left-HUD conflict (baked-into-5×5-grid vs runtime Pango/HarfBuzz overlay) FIRST — then writing-plans → build the simulator-first slice: deterministic Dark/Light/Left + a flow-stabilized Right restyle over ONE neutral scale clip wired into the simulator. Defer Pi renderer, endless-encoder/serial, and AI zoom-transitions per simulator-first.
```
