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30. Illustration · 2026 · Modern experiments

Spiral stretch

Demos are animating. Following your system setting.
Colors and knobs

These rewrite the live file. Copy HTML picks up whatever you set.

About

No fluid solver. Each iterate is r ← k r, θ ← θ + ω, z ← z + c/r. Plot (r cos θ, r sin θ + z) and you get the cartoon of inward spiral plus axial stretch — the 2026 Navier–Stokes construction as a CRT orbit. Teal is early, orange is stretched. Pointer nudges k. When a walker's radius collapses it reseeds on the ring.

Move the pointer left or right to change how fast the radius shrinks.

Reference

Interpretation: this evokes a period look and does not reproduce one specific original.

Browser APIs

  • Canvas 2D
  • ImageData
  • Pointer Events
  • requestAnimationFrame
  • matchMedia

If WebGL is missing, the demo draws a message on the canvas instead of a blank frame. By default a demo holds a still frame when your system asks for reduced motion; the Motion buttons override that, and a standalone copy animates with #motion=play on its URL.

Source

(function () {
  const PARAMS = {
    color: "#ff6a2a",
    accent: "#3ce0c8",
    shrink: 0.992
  };
  function hexToRgb(hex) {
    const n = parseInt(String(hex).replace("#", ""), 16);
    if (isNaN(n)) return [255, 106, 42];
    return [n >> 16 & 255, n >> 8 & 255, n & 255];
  }

  const canvas = document.getElementById("c");
  const fallback = document.getElementById("fallback");
  const ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");
  if (!ctx) {
    fallback.hidden = false;
    fallback.textContent = "Canvas 2D is not available in this browser.";
    return;
  }

  const BW = 420, BH = 240;
  const buf = document.createElement("canvas");
  buf.width = BW; buf.height = BH;
  const bctx = buf.getContext("2d");
  const img = bctx.createImageData(BW, BH);
  const d = img.data;
  bctx.fillStyle = "#07060a";
  bctx.fillRect(0, 0, BW, BH);
  d.set(bctx.getImageData(0, 0, BW, BH).data);

  const N = 64;
  const pts = [];
  function seed() {
    pts.length = 0;
    for (let i = 0; i < N; i++) {
      const th = (i / N) * Math.PI * 2;
      const r = 1.05 + (i % 7) * 0.04;
      pts.push({ r: r, th: th, z: (i % 5) * 0.02 });
    }
  }
  seed();

  let look = 0;
  let raf = 0;
  let warmed = false;
  const motionQuery = window.matchMedia("(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)");
  let reduced = motionQuery.matches;
  canvas.addEventListener("pointermove", function (ev) {
    const rec = canvas.getBoundingClientRect();
    look = (ev.clientX - rec.left) / rec.width - 0.5;
    wake();
  });

  function fade() {
    for (let i = 0; i < d.length; i += 4) {
      d[i] *= 0.965; d[i + 1] *= 0.965; d[i + 2] *= 0.965;
    }
  }

  function plot(px, py, k, hot, cool) {
    const x = px | 0, y = py | 0;
    if (x < 0 || y < 0 || x >= BW || y >= BH) return;
    const o = (y * BW + x) * 4;
    const r = cool[0] + (hot[0] - cool[0]) * k;
    const g = cool[1] + (hot[1] - cool[1]) * k;
    const b = cool[2] + (hot[2] - cool[2]) * k;
    d[o] = Math.min(255, d[o] + r * 0.22);
    d[o + 1] = Math.min(255, d[o + 1] + g * 0.22);
    d[o + 2] = Math.min(255, d[o + 2] + b * 0.22);
    d[o + 3] = 255;
  }

  function step() {
    fade();
    const hot = hexToRgb(PARAMS.color);
    const cool = hexToRgb(PARAMS.accent);
    const shrink = Math.min(0.999, Math.max(0.96, PARAMS.shrink + look * 0.012));
    const cx = BW * 0.5, cy = BH * 0.62;
    const s = Math.min(BW, BH) * 0.28;
    const inner = 4;
    for (let k = 0; k < inner; k++) {
      for (let i = 0; i < pts.length; i++) {
        const p = pts[i];
        p.th += 0.19;
        p.r *= shrink;
        p.z += 0.085 / (p.r + 0.04);
        if (p.r < 0.03 || p.z > 14) {
          p.r = 1.08 + (i % 7) * 0.05;
          p.th = (i / N) * Math.PI * 2 + p.z;
          p.z = 0;
        }
        const x = p.r * Math.cos(p.th);
        const y = p.r * Math.sin(p.th);
        const px = cx + x * s;
        const py = cy - (y * 0.32 + p.z * 0.085) * s;
        const heat = Math.min(1, p.z / 8);
        plot(px, py, heat, hot, cool);
        plot(px + 1, py, heat * 0.5, hot, cool);
      }
    }
    bctx.putImageData(img, 0, 0);
    ctx.imageSmoothingEnabled = false;
    ctx.drawImage(buf, 0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
    ctx.font = Math.max(10, (canvas.height * 0.03) | 0) + "px ui-monospace, 'IBM Plex Mono', monospace";
    ctx.fillStyle = "rgba(7,6,10,0.5)";
    ctx.fillRect(6, 6, canvas.width * 0.46, canvas.height * 0.1);
    ctx.fillStyle = "#c8d2dc";
    ctx.textBaseline = "top";
    ctx.fillText("r shrinks   z grows", 12, 10);
    ctx.fillText("inward spiral + axial stretch", 12, 10 + canvas.height * 0.04);
  }

  function resize() {
    const dpr = Math.min(window.devicePixelRatio || 1, 2);
    const w = Math.max(1, Math.floor(canvas.clientWidth * dpr));
    const h = Math.max(1, Math.floor(canvas.clientHeight * dpr));
    if (canvas.width !== w || canvas.height !== h) { canvas.width = w; canvas.height = h; }
  }

  function frame() {
    if (reduced) {
      if (!warmed) { for (let i = 0; i < 80; i++) step(); warmed = true; }
      resize();
      ctx.drawImage(buf, 0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
    } else {
      resize();
      step();
    }
    if (!reduced) raf = requestAnimationFrame(frame);
  }

  // Motion. The system's reduced-motion preference decides by default. A
  // standalone copy animates anyway with "#motion=play" in its URL (or holds a
  // frame with "#motion=still"); an embedding page can post {motion: "play"}.
  let motionMode = "auto";
  function applyMotion() {
    const next = motionMode === "still" || (motionMode === "auto" && motionQuery.matches);
    if (next === reduced) return;
    reduced = next;
    if (reduced) { cancelAnimationFrame(raf); raf = 0; frame(performance.now()); }
    else if (!raf) raf = requestAnimationFrame(frame);
  }
  function setMotion(mode) {
    if (mode === "play" || mode === "still" || mode === "auto") { motionMode = mode; applyMotion(); }
  }
  function readMotionHash() {
    const m = /motion=(play|still|auto)/.exec(location.hash);
    let mode = m ? m[1] : "auto";
    // Embedded in the gallery, the page sets window.__demoMotion before any frame loads.
    try { if (!m && window.parent !== window && typeof window.parent.__demoMotion === "string") mode = window.parent.__demoMotion; } catch (e) { /* cross-origin parent */ }
    setMotion(mode);
  }
  function wake() { if (reduced) frame(performance.now()); }
  if (motionQuery.addEventListener) motionQuery.addEventListener("change", applyMotion);
  else if (motionQuery.addListener) motionQuery.addListener(applyMotion);
  window.addEventListener("hashchange", readMotionHash);
  window.addEventListener("message", function (e) { if (e.data && typeof e.data.motion === "string") setMotion(e.data.motion); });
  window.addEventListener("resize", wake);

  if (reduced) frame(performance.now());
  else raf = requestAnimationFrame(frame);
  readMotionHash();
})();