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WebGPU Toys

WebGPU toys leverage the modern WebGPU API for advanced rendering techniques, compute shaders, and high-performance visuals. Most toys include WebGL fallback support for broader browser compatibility.
WebGPU requires a compatible browser and GPU. Chrome/Edge 113+, Safari 16.4+, and Firefox Nightly support WebGPU on supported hardware.

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What is WebGPU?

WebGPU is a modern graphics API that provides:
  • Compute shaders: Run parallel computations on the GPU for effects like particle systems, fluid dynamics, and physics simulations
  • Advanced rendering: Better control over rendering pipelines, multi-pass effects, and post-processing
  • Performance: Lower overhead and better multi-threading compared to WebGL
  • Modern features: Support for features like render bundles, timestamp queries, and texture compression
All toys in this collection set requiresWebGPU: true in their metadata, but most also set allowWebGLFallback: true for graceful degradation.

Aurora Painter

Paint flowing aurora ribbons that react to your microphone in layered waves.Moods: dreamy, ethereal, luminous
Tags: aurora, ribbons, gestural
Lifecycle: featured (rank 1)
WebGL Fallback: Yes
Uses WebGPU compute shaders for smooth ribbon flow and layered wave effects.

Bioluminescent Tidepools

Sketch glowing currents that bloom with high-frequency sparkle from your music.Moods: serene, ethereal, fiery, dreamy
Tags: ocean, bioluminescent, caustics, gestural
Lifecycle: featured (rank 2)
WebGL Fallback: Yes
Leverages WebGPU for real-time caustics and bloom effects.

Tactile Sand Table

Heightfield sand ripples that respond to bass, mids, and device tilt.Moods: calming, grounded
Tags: sand, tilt, haptics
Lifecycle: featured (rank 3)
WebGL Fallback: Yes
Uses WebGPU compute shaders for heightfield physics and sand ripple simulation.

Neon Wave

Retro-wave visualizer with bloom effects, custom shaders, and four color themes.Moods: energetic, immersive
Tags: synthwave, cyberpunk, retro, visualizer, bloom
Lifecycle: featured (rank 6)
WebGL Fallback: Yes
WebGPU enables multi-pass bloom and HDR rendering for vivid neon effects.

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WebGPU-Only Toys

Some toys require WebGPU and do not include WebGL fallback due to their reliance on compute shaders or advanced rendering features:

Multi-Capability Visualizer

Shapes and lights move with both sound and device motion.Moods: energetic, cosmic
Tags: motion, hybrid, immersive
Lifecycle: archived
WebGL Fallback: Yes (but limited features)Why WebGPU? Combines audio reactivity with device motion using compute shaders for hybrid particle systems.
If a WebGPU-only toy fails to load, check your browser’s WebGPU support at webgpu.io or try a Chromium-based browser.

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All WebGPU Toys

All 24 toys in the collection require WebGPU (requiresWebGPU: true). Here’s the complete breakdown by lifecycle stage:
  • 3D Toy - Twisting 3D tunnel
  • Pottery Wheel Sculptor - Spin and shape clay vessels
  • Evolutionary Weirdcore - Surreal fractal landscapes
  • Microphone Geometry Visualizer - Shifting geometric forms
  • Halo Visualizer - Layered halos and particles
  • Multi-Capability Visualizer - Sound and motion hybrid
  • Synesthetic Visualizer - Audio-visual pattern blending
  • Terminal Word Grid - Retro text grid
  • Spectrograph - Gentle audio spectrograph
  • Grid Visualizer - Cube waves and bouncing spheres
  • Audio Light Show - Shader styles and color palettes
  • Rainbow Tunnel - Colorful spinning rings
  • Star Field - Shimmering stars
  • Fractal Kite Garden - Branching kite fractals
  • Pocket Pulse - Mobile-optimized pulse field
  • Mobile Ripples - Low-power neon ripples
  • MilkDrop Proto - Feedback engine visualizer

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WebGPU Features in Use

Several toys leverage compute shaders for GPU-accelerated effects:
  • Tactile Sand Table: Heightfield physics simulation
  • Aurora Painter: Ribbon flow and layered wave effects
  • Bioluminescent Tidepools: Fluid dynamics and caustics
  • Cosmic Particles: Particle system updates and swirl motion
Compute shaders run in parallel on the GPU, enabling real-time simulations that would be too slow on the CPU.
WebGPU’s render pass system enables advanced multi-pass effects:
  • Neon Wave: Multi-pass bloom with HDR tonemapping
  • Bioluminescent Tidepools: Separate passes for caustics, glow, and bloom
  • MilkDrop Proto: Feedback buffer passes for warp effects
Each pass can read from the previous pass’s output, enabling effects like motion blur, depth of field, and screen-space reflections.
WebGPU supports modern texture compression formats (BC, ETC2, ASTC) for reduced memory usage and faster loading:
  • Cosmic Particles: Compressed nebula textures
  • Star Field: Compressed star sprite textures
  • Rainbow Tunnel: Compressed gradient textures
WebGPU’s timestamp queries enable precise performance profiling:
  • Measure GPU time per render pass
  • Identify bottlenecks in compute shaders
  • Dynamically adjust quality based on GPU performance
Quality presets use timestamp queries to auto-detect when to reduce particle counts or disable expensive effects.

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WebGL Fallback

Most toys include WebGL fallback for broader browser compatibility:

Full Feature Parity

Toys with full WebGL fallback:
  • Aurora Painter
  • Bioluminescent Tidepools
  • Neon Wave
  • Bubble Harmonics
These toys detect WebGPU availability and gracefully fall back to WebGL with equivalent features.

Limited Features

Toys with limited WebGL fallback:
  • Tactile Sand Table (no heightfield physics)
  • Multi-Capability Visualizer (simpler particle system)
  • MilkDrop Proto (no feedback effects)
These toys run on WebGL but disable compute-shader-dependent features.
The toy metadata includes allowWebGLFallback: true when fallback is supported. Check requiresWebGPU in toys.json for each toy’s requirements.

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Browser Support

BrowserStatusNotes
Chrome/Edge 113+✅ Full supportRecommended for best experience
Safari 16.4+ (macOS/iOS)✅ Full supportRequires macOS Ventura or iOS 16.4+
Firefox Nightly⚠️ ExperimentalEnable via about:config flag
Firefox Stable❌ Not supportedUse Chrome/Safari or wait for stable release
Check your browser’s WebGPU support at webgpu.io
WebGPU requires a compatible GPU:
  • Desktop: NVIDIA GTX 900+ series, AMD GCN 3rd gen+, Intel HD 500+
  • Mobile: Apple A11+, Qualcomm Adreno 600+, Mali G72+
  • Drivers: Up-to-date GPU drivers required
If your GPU isn’t supported, toys will fall back to WebGL (if available) or show a compatibility warning.

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Performance Tips

1

Enable Hardware Acceleration

Ensure hardware acceleration is enabled in your browser settings:
  • Chrome/Edge: Settings → System → Use hardware acceleration when available
  • Safari: Preferences → Advanced → Show Develop menu → Enable WebGPU
2

Use Quality Presets

All toys include quality presets in the settings panel:
  • Low: Minimal particles, reduced bloom, simplified shaders
  • Medium: Balanced for mid-tier GPUs
  • High: Full fidelity for flagship devices
3

Monitor GPU Usage

Use browser DevTools to monitor GPU usage:
  • Chrome: DevTools → Performance → Enable “GPU” track
  • Safari: Develop → Show Web Inspector → Timelines → GPU
4

Update Drivers

Keep GPU drivers up-to-date for best performance and WebGPU compatibility.

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Troubleshooting

Possible causes:
  1. WebGPU not supported by browser or GPU
  2. Hardware acceleration disabled
  3. Outdated GPU drivers
Solutions:
  • Check WebGPU support at webgpu.io
  • Enable hardware acceleration in browser settings
  • Update GPU drivers
  • Try a Chromium-based browser
Possible causes:
  1. GPU overloaded
  2. Quality preset too high
  3. Other GPU-intensive apps running
Solutions:
  • Switch to Low or Medium quality preset
  • Close other GPU-intensive apps/tabs
  • Reduce browser window size
  • Disable browser extensions
Possible causes:
  1. Toy doesn’t support WebGL fallback
  2. WebGL disabled in browser
Solutions:
  • Check toy metadata for allowWebGLFallback
  • Enable WebGL in browser settings
  • Try a different toy with fallback support

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Next Steps

Featured Toys

Explore curated WebGPU toys with starter presets

Audio Visualizers

Try audio-reactive visualizers powered by WebGPU

Interactive Tools

Experience gestural tools with WebGPU compute shaders

Toy Catalog

Browse the complete catalog by moods and capabilities

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