I'm Joshua Opolko, an independent builder and technologist. I design, build, and self-host the whole stack: the websites, the AI infrastructure behind them, and the immersive experiments that run on top. I also write long-form research. Everything here is something I made, and most of it is built to be read by people and cited by AI in equal measure.
What I build
Web infrastructure & GEO
This site runs on a static engine I wrote myself, my own page generator, JSON-LD schema, sitemap, and navigation tooling, with no CMS in the loop. A particular focus is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): structuring content so it gets surfaced and cited by AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews, not just ranked by classic search. See GEO: Optimizing for AI Citation, your site as AI infrastructure, and the LLM-as-ETL architecture.
The same engine powers a set of working local-Toronto tools: NowServingTO, Kids Events, HomeTurf, and a GEO Observatory.
Self-hosted AI
I run AI on my own hardware and write production guides from doing it, local models, agent frameworks, workflow automation, and private search:
- Local LLMs with Ollama and a privacy-first local stack
- Agents and orchestration: CrewAI, Agent Zero, and Dify
- Workflow automation with n8n
- Self-hosted search: SearXNG and Vane, a self-hosted AI answer engine
- Claude tooling, including a spec-driven Claude Code workflow
WebXR & creative coding
| Demo | Visual / physiological effect | Math and technique |
|---|---|---|
| Lorenz Energy Spine | Strange attractor motion: the butterfly path never repeats, so visual tracking never resolves into a stable object | Lorenz ODE (σ=10, ρ=28, β=8/3, dt=0.004); sine wave along arc-length d: sin(d·ω − t·v); scan pulses via fract(); Fresnel rim glow; Three.js TubeGeometry |
| Interference Tubes | Beating between incommensurable frequencies: the visual system cannot phase-lock, so the field appears to breathe without any object moving | Per-tube frequency = φⁿ (golden-ratio spacing); halo alpha summed in screen space; chromatic aberration post-pass via Three.js ShaderPass |
| Moiré Extreme | Spatial-frequency beating in V1: overlapping rotated grids produce emergent fringes at the difference frequency, which the visual cortex reads as a third pattern | sin(x·s·τ)·sin(y·s·τ) per layer with distinct rotation angle; per-channel UV offset for chromatic fringe; spherical projection so the pattern fills the full visual field; raw WebGL |
| Wave Interference | Apparent motion without moving objects: detuned circular wavefronts beat against each other, producing travelling fringes from a stationary field | Σ sin(|p − srcᵢ| · freq · φⁱ · 2π − t) over N sources; sources orbit on Lissajous paths; R/G/B channels independently offset for chromatic beating |
| Lorenz Tunnel | Vection: sustained radial optic flow triggers the vestibular illusion of forward self-motion even with no actual movement | Lorenz path extruded as Three.js tube; mod() for looping depth rings (infinite-tunnel technique); sin(θ·28) angular sectors; HSV hue keyed to depth; WebXR entry |
What I write
Alongside the engineering, I write evidence-based research on psychology and social science, how adaptation, trauma, and belonging shape people inside high-control environments: