Holocube Emotes

Holocube Emotes

Turn a GeekMagic holocube into your AI's face. Generate holographic character sprites, upload them to the device, then swap expressions in real-time based on agent/session state.

0. Find the device

Auto-discover holocubes on your network: python3 scripts/holocube.py --discover Output: FOUND: 192.168.0.245 — HelloCubic-Lite V7.0.22 If discovery fails, find the IP on the device's screen or your router's client list.

1. Generate sprites

Create a full emote sprite kit (requires nano-banana-pro skill with GEMINI_API_KEY): python3 scripts/generate_sprites.py --output-dir ./sprites Custom character: python3 scripts/generate_sprites.py --output-dir ./sprites \ --character "A glowing holographic cat floating in pure black void. Neon purple wireframe style." This generates 7 emotes (neutral, happy, thinking, surprised, concerned, laughing, sleeping) as both static JPG and animated GIF, sized for the 240x240 display.

2. Upload to device

python3 scripts/setup_device.py --sprites-dir ./sprites --clear --backup-dir ./backup Flags: --clear removes existing images (recommended — device has ~3MB storage) --backup-dir saves existing files before clearing --ip auto-discovers if not provided, or specify manually

3. Configure TOOLS.md

Add the holocube IP and emote mappings to your workspace TOOLS.md for reference. See references/tools-example.md.

Set emote directly

python3 scripts/holocube.py happy python3 scripts/holocube.py thinking --static # Use JPG instead of GIF

Set by agent state

python3 scripts/holocube.py working # → thinking python3 scripts/holocube.py complete # → happy python3 scripts/holocube.py error # → concerned python3 scripts/holocube.py opus # → thinking (heavy model) python3 scripts/holocube.py haiku # → neutral (light model)

Auto-select by time of day

python3 scripts/holocube.py --auto 11pm–7am → sleeping 7am–9am → happy Rest of day → neutral

Check status

python3 scripts/holocube.py --status python3 scripts/holocube.py --list

Heartbeat Integration

• Add to HEARTBEAT.md to auto-manage the emote:
• ## Holocube Emote Check
• Run `python3 scripts/holocube.py --auto` to set time-appropriate emote

When to Set Emotes

Use these during normal agent operations: ContextCommandEmoteIdle, waiting for inputneutral🤖Processing, running toolsthinking or working🔧Task completedhappy or complete😊Error occurrederror (→ surprised)😮Funny momentlaughing or funny😂Unexpected inputsurprised or unexpected😮Night/inactivesleeping or night😴Spawning sub-agentspawning (→ thinking)🔧On-demand customcustom✨

Custom Slot

A reserved file adam-custom.gif on the device can be overwritten at any time for on-demand or one-off animations. Generate a GIF, upload as adam-custom.gif, then python3 holocube.py custom. Switch back to a standard emote when done.

Device Notes

Model: GeekMagic HelloCubic-Lite (240x240px glass display) Format: GIF (animated) or JFIF JPEG. Use Pillow for JPEG (ffmpeg lacks JFIF headers). Storage: ~3MB total. 6 animated GIFs use ~1.5MB, leaving ~500KB for custom slot. Art style: Dark/black backgrounds make glass disappear. Use glowing, holographic, neon elements. ⚠️ NEVER send /set?reset=1 — that's factory reset, wipes WiFi config.

Requirements

GeekMagic HelloCubic-Lite (or compatible) on local network Python 3 with Pillow (pip install Pillow) nano-banana-pro skill with GEMINI_API_KEY (for sprite generation only) uv (brew install uv) (for sprite generation only)