Huk, The Jaguaress
Huk, the Jaguaress is a participatory film futurism experience that confronts the urgent and relentless destruction of the Amazon through the eyes of Huk, a spirit animal of Las Awichas, and an ancient deity. For over two million years, Huk has roamed the jungle as an apex hunter, maintaining the rainforest's balance. In countless lives, always female, she has witnessed colonization and fiercely resisted the destruction of her land. Now, as fire and greed ravage her home, Huk returns as a post-human feminist digital being, calling us to confront our impact on her jungle.
Exhibition Space Layout & Design
Installation design
The installation features a cinema screen where Huk is projected. Positioned before it are six 3D-printed jaguars, each unique in posture and expression, representing Huk’s many forms and moods. Through projection mapping, these sculptures come alive with shifting patterns and lights that pulse with her energy, giving the impression of her spirit moving through them. The figures surround the audience, creating an atmosphere of reverence, as if entering a shrine dedicated to the jungle deity.
Huk 1.0 in Montreal
Huk 1.0 was presented at the UQAM Gallery in Montreal - Supported by Mila, Google DeepMind, Abundant Intelligences, Cifar, Hexagram, Mosaic, Ivado.
Technical Requirements and Specifications
Computer Hardware
5 projectors
1 projector screen (Dimensions: approximately 2m x 1m)
1 Robotic vision camera
2 external monitors (Dimensions: 32in monitor (under the hood HUK, displaying the code and functions))
2 directional speakers positioned to focus the audio on the audience standing in front of HUK.
Sensors near the plants
2 x Computers (Specs 01: CPU-Intel i7 14700k or similar, RAM-48Gb or more, GPU-RTX 4080 or similar; Specs 02: A PC capable of running 4 video projectors.)
Internet: Router or stable Wi-Fi connection
2 Extension cables
2-3 Power bars
Ethernet cable from laptop to computer (Protocol to send from from laptop to computer)
Physical Exhibition
10 pedestals (Dimensions: 2 x 160cm, 2 x 140cm 6 x 120cm)
2 bench/tables (Dimensions: 1 x 2m wide 1m high, 1 x 2m wide 50cm high cm)
2 soft lights
Moss or greenery around the jaguars (not fake)
8 small portraits of Las Awichas (Grandmothers)
Little flowers for the dioramas
10-15 Plants of various sizes, preferably some that are found in Amazon (Vines, Ferns, Orchids, Bromeliads)
Interactive Features and Visitor Experience
Interaction
As visitors move through the space, Huk becomes aware of their presence. The robotic camera captures their movements and Huk selects individuals to engage with based on instinctual algorithms. Her digital form responds — her skin may glow warmly for someone who approaches gently, or her eyes may narrow for someone who moves abruptly.
The AI interprets emotional and behavioral cues to tailor each interaction.
Sound
Huk communicates through a multilingual audio narrative, her voice resonant and layered. She shares stories from her countless lives, weaving in Indigenous beliefs and Quechua cosmology. She poses challenging questions, prompting visitors to reflect on their relationship with the natural world and technology.
Ambient sounds of the jungle—rustling leaves, distant animal calls, flowing water—surround them.
Movement
Six 3D-printed jaguar sculptures are strategically placed around the space. Each sculpture is unique, a physical extension of Huk's presence, their positions guiding the flow of visitors toward the central screen. The sculptures are brought to life through projection mapping and motion sensors. Shifting patterns, colors and storytelling elements animate their surfaces, giving the impression Huk's spirit moves through them.
Leave a message
Small papers that tell your fortune will be available for the audience, you may keep them or roll them up and tie to one of the cords hanging from the pedestals, in the form of an offering to the Jaguaress.
Watch the code running
See under the hood. Watch on two computer monitors as they present the Python code and Touch Designer system that runs the entire experience.
Technical Architecture
Vision LLM
- Input: Photo from robotic camera (OAK-D Luxonis)
- Output: Description of posture, clothing color, and distance
LLM Brain
- Personality:
- Developed with a screenplay by Violeta Ayala, shaping her style
- System instructions include tone, mathematical conditions, a detailed list of possible emotions, and contextual background
- Input: Posture description, clothing color, distance
- Output: Generates responses based on detected emotion
Text-to-Speech (TTS)
- Input: Generated response from LLM Brain (text)
- Output: Audio narration
- Tools: Whisper (OpenAI), multilingual capabilities via Eleven Labs
Runway ML
- Input: Photos
- Output: Videos for skin change effects
Future Directions
- Interaction:
- Huk will move towards who she addresses using motion capture integrated with computer vision through the robotic camera (Developed by Violeta Ayala, integrated by Yasmeen Hitti, and designed by Daniel Fallshaw)
- Enhanced Sensory Integration:
- Incorporation of additional sensor inputs
Genesis
Huk, the Jaguaress is a provocation to engage deeply with the pressing destruction of the Amazon. By dissolving the boundaries between observer and observed, technology and nature, the project challenges participants to reconsider their relationship with the world around them. Utilizing state-of-the-art technology, including robotic cameras and the integration of four AI systems with a screenplay, physical plants, and sculptures, the experience ensures that the audience feels the connection, not the technology. Unlike traditional cinema, Huk, the Jaguaress is always evolving—v1, v2, v3, and beyond—adapting and growing. It envisions a future where progress does not come at the expense of ancestral wisdom but is guided with intentionality. Through an intimate encounter with Huk, participants are asked to reflect: In our pursuit of progress, have we forsaken the wisdom that sustains life itself?
unitednotions.film
Developed at Co-Creating with Art and AI Residence at
Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
©unitednotions.film 2024
