Julia Yoo

JULIA YOO

I am a multi disciplinary artist from Toronto, Canada
based in Boston, Massachusetts.
I studied Computational/Media Arts and Computer Science at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Tufts University, and the Creative Computing Institute at UAL.
I love working with interactivity and data, moving between and merging media arts with tactile sculptures.

Computation theory has long shown that a machine can self-reproduce, provided its definition acts as both its genetic code and its instruction manual. I give technology my own genetic code and instruction manual, and hope that it can help reproduce a version of self that is clearer, more forgiving, and embodying of the complexities of identity.

MAY 2026POLAROID

This computer vision-emabled polaroid camera detects faces and pixel edits them before printing them out. There is no “off” switch for enlarged eyes, lips, and shrunken nose.

PLA, Raspberry Pi, Thermal Printer, Aerosols
Rhino3D, Python, OpenCV

MAY 2026LANDLINE

An conversational AI agent trained on family information and transcripts speaks to you through a converted analog to digital landline phone. She marvels about the technology that allows her to speak in English, reminisces on her life in Korea, and expresses pride in her grandchildren.

Analog Phone, Electret Mic, Raspberry Pi,
Python

MAY 2026ROCK AND LOG

A custom infrared remote (ROCK) and media player (LOG) to simulate channel-switching in gallery. Pressing either mossy buttons switches the channel to a different mixed-media animation loop, without interfering with the TV’s own IR signals.

Plywood, PLA, Flock, Infrared Transmitter/Receiver, ESP32, Jetsen Orin Nano
Rhino3D, Shopbot CNC, Adobe Illustrator, C++

MAY 2026CLOCK AND POND

Water-jet cut and etched plates with embedded animations. CLOCK lights and dims tiny windows throughout the day, and POND holds an infinitely swimming fish.

Ceramic Plates,
OLED & LCD screens, Components, PLA
ProtoMax Waterjet, Procreate

Material Test

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Etch Image

DECEMBER 2025GAME,BOY

A custom gameboy/tamogotchi-inspired game device. Use the buttons to keep the Love and Energy levels up, or face a wrathful death. Bottom button resets.

PLA, Acrylic, ESP32, SPI LCD Display, Hardware,
Rhino3D, C++

GitHub

NOVEMBER 2025say it back

A collection of 3 sculptural machines.

ORIENTATION LOCK
A warp stabilizer for missed loved ones: the images rotates upright, no matter the angle or tilt.

TOUCH ID
A 12 hour day of mine in heart rate extracted from Apple Watch data export beats on rhythm.

HAPPY TO SEE ME
A wagging appendage greets you and waves goodbye.

Plywood, Hardware, Accelerometer,
Laser Etched Cardstock
Adobe Illustrator, C++

PLA, Acrylic, Hardware, CircuitPy, Rhino3D,
12 hour loop

Acrylic, Hardware,
Cardboard, Scar Tape
Rhino3D, OpenCV, C++

GitHub

APRIL 2025Companion for Anti Social Sexual Individuals
(CASSI)

CASSI is a Companion for Anti Social-Sexual Individuals

CASSI runs on a neural network, a fine-tuned version of the ResNet50 CNN, trained with 2000-4000 images of synthetic faces as well as celebrity face datasets.

The model is able to identify faces I would deem attractive to an 80-90% accuracy. With a built in camera, live video uses OpenCV to detect faces and send them to the model for judgement, indicating an answer with CASSI’s light-up face.

3D printed PVA, synthetic hair, cardboard, scar tape, Jetsen Nano with RP Camera

Data from thispersondoesnotexist.com and Kaustubh Dhote’s face dataset

Python & TensorFlow and PyTorch

GitHub

FULL DESIGN BRIEF: IDEATION, RESEARCH, DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT

PROTOTYPING

TROUBLESHOOTING

JUNE 2025don’t judge me
GitHub

Anne Anlin Cheng, in her review of ‘Ghost in the Shell’ (2017), writes that “Freud told us that the most unsettling effects for human ontology is to be confronted by a machine that comes to life… What happens to the human element when the brain gets reduced to a series of electrical impulses, and, conversely, along a more sentimental line, can machines have feelings, too?” (Cheng, 129). I am constantly fascinated by the idea of the “ghost in the machine”, the empathy we project upon tech, and the things that make us sentient.

I was heavily inspired by Joseph Weizenbaum’s Eliza, considered to be the first ever chatbot, communicating using keywords, patterns and substitutions, long before the existence of Language Learning Models. I decided to take these ideas and create the saddest chatbot in the world. I was interested in seeing the lengths and limits of fabricating a smooth conversationalist without using a complete LLM. I also wanted to incorporate more contemporary ideas and methods into the creation.

Python and Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK)

Parsed and edited responses scraped from r/depression, r/comfort and r/askphilosophy.

2024They’ll definitely remember your efforts

Truths, lies and fabrication come together to create a world that has never existed.

Mixed Media Animated Film
Adobe Animate, Dragon Frame, Adobe After Effects, FCP
9 minutes 55 seconds

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