cyb/prysm/system/specs/emotion.md

the emotion function in prysm

emotion is a computed color signal that encodes protocol state as affect. grounded in the color-emotion spectrum: seven wavelengths, seven feelings, one function. every prysm component accepts emotion as input. no component assigns emotion manually — it is always derived from data

the palette

9 values: 7 spectrum colors + neutral + inactive

the emotion function

$$\varepsilon: (v,\; \theta,\; d) \;\to\; C$$

$v$ — signal value (numeric or categorical). $\theta$ — reference threshold (context-dependent). $d$ — signal domain (determines which evaluation rule applies). $C$ — one of the 9 palette values

four evaluation rules, selected by domain $d$:

polarity

binary: value is positive or negative relative to zero

$$\varepsilon_{polarity}(v) = \begin{cases} \text{green} & v > 0 \\ \text{white} & v = 0 \\ \text{red} & v < 0 \end{cases}$$

used by: prysm/counter (balance change), prysm/widget Σ (balance delta), prysm/table (row-level accent)

threshold

value compared to reference with three zones

$$\varepsilon_{threshold}(v, \theta_{low}, \theta_{high}) = \begin{cases} \text{green} & v \geq \theta_{high} \\ \text{yellow} & \theta_{low} \leq v < \theta_{high} \\ \text{red} & v < \theta_{low} \end{cases}$$

used by: prysm/avatar border (karma thresholds), prysm/sphere-cell validator pills (metric vs network average), prysm/hfr-cell E-Ratio, tx status (complete/pending/failed maps to green/yellow/red)

generalizes to more zones:

$$\varepsilon_{threshold}(v, \vec{\theta}) = C_i \quad \text{where} \quad i = \max\{j : v \geq \theta_j\}$$

$\vec{\theta} = (\theta_1, \theta_2, \ldots)$ — ordered thresholds. $C_i$ — color for zone $i$. this allows mapping to any subset of the palette, not only green/yellow/red

semantic

categorical: action type determines emotion directly

$$\varepsilon_{semantic}(a) = \text{lookup}(a, M)$$

$M$ — a finite map from action categories to colors:

used by: prysm/button, prysm/adviser, prysm/mind

continuous

numeric value mapped to spectrum position. used when emotion encodes magnitude, not polarity

$$\varepsilon_{continuous}(v, v_{min}, v_{max}) = \text{spectrum}\left(\frac{v - v_{min}}{v_{max} - v_{min}}\right)$$

the spectrum function maps $[0, 1]$ to the ROYGBIV gradient: $0 \to$ red, $0.5 \to$ green, $1.0 \to$ violet. intermediate values interpolate between adjacent spectrum colors

used by: prysm/pill progress fill (cyberank weight), prysm/slider (position-dependent color), prysm/glass tint (when driven by continuous metric)

application

emotion applies to three visual properties:

a single component can carry emotion on multiple properties simultaneously: a prysm/button applies emotion to both text color and saber glow. a prysm/counter applies emotion to text and its saber change indicator

inheritance

emotion flows through the element tree $\mathcal{T}$:

1. a cell computes emotion from protocol data (chain state, cyberank, karma)
2. the cell passes emotion to its molecules as a parameter
3. molecules pass emotion to their atoms

an atom never computes emotion. it receives and renders. a molecule may compute emotion for its sub-atoms (e.g. prysm/counter computes polarity from value delta). a cell computes emotion from the cybergraph

concrete thresholds

threshold values for every component that uses $\varepsilon_{threshold}$:

karma (avatar border, neuron-card)

$\mu$ — network mean karma, $\sigma$ — network standard deviation. thresholds are relative to network distribution, not absolute

validator pills (sphere-cell)

each metric (APR, power, commission, self-stake) evaluated independently:

E-Ratio (hfr-cell)

$e = \text{available energy} / \text{max energy}$, range $[0, 1]$

transaction status

categorical, not threshold — included here because it follows the green/yellow/red pattern

cyberank (content, pill, oracle-cell particle rank)

uses $\varepsilon_{continuous}$: $v = \log_{10}(\text{rank})$, $v_{min} = 0$, $v_{max} = \log_{10}(\text{max\_rank})$. higher rank → greener. the logarithmic scale prevents a few high-rank particles from compressing the entire spectrum

default

when no signal drives emotion: $\varepsilon = \text{neutral}$ (white). when a component is disabled: $\varepsilon = \text{inactive}$ (gray)

fallback

when EmotionSource data is unavailable (chain offline, RPC timeout, fetching):

the rule: emotion must never lie. if the system cannot compute a truthful signal, it shows no signal (neutral). showing a false green on stale data is worse than showing white

ECS: EmotionSource includes freshness: Instant. EmotionSystem checks freshness: if $t_{now} - t_{fresh} > 60s$, apply 50% opacity to Emotion. if source is None, emit neutral

ECS

• Component: Emotion { color: EmotionColor } — the computed color, attached to any entity
• Component: EmotionSource { domain: Domain, value: f64, thresholds: Vec<f64> } — the input data
• System: EmotionSystem — reads EmotionSource, writes Emotion using the evaluation rules above
• System: EmotionPropagateSystem — propagates Emotion from cells → molecules → atoms through the element tree

EmotionSystem runs before render systems, after data-fetch systems. emotion is recomputed every frame when the source value changes

the binding

the color-emotion mapping is innate — ancestral environments selected for wavelength-affect bindings. green = vegetation = life. red = blood = danger. this is the perceptual interface between a neuron and the cybergraph. see color-emotion spectrum for the evolutionary framework

the full palette

every color in cyb comes from this section. no hardcoded hex values outside this palette. renderers reference tokens by name

background

void is the energetically correct default — on OLED, #000000 draws zero power. every other color exists on void

text luminance

four levels of white on void

text levels are pure white at varying opacity — no warm/cool tint

glass

translucent surfaces over void. glass fill is white at varying opacity. emotion tint overlays at 12% when present

glass borders are white at lower opacity than fill

saber

sigil colors (token logos)

token sigils carry their brand color — the only non-palette colors allowed in prysm. these are immutable (the emotion system does not override them)

rules

• void is always the base. every other color exists on void
• emotion colors are max saturation / max brightness — acid, not pastel
• text levels are pure white at varying opacity (no warm/cool tint)
• glass fill is pure white at varying opacity (no color shift)
• the only colored elements are emotion signals (driven by the emotion function) and sigil colors (immutable brand identity)
• if a color is not in this palette, it does not belong in cyb