Moire Tapestry - Generative art in 1986

Drag the mouse on the picture! (wheel: fine tuning)

speed blur

c= Download imageDownload image

What is this?

This is an interactive & colorized version of the article:

A. K. Dewdney: "COMPUTER RECREATIONS", Scientific American, Vol. 255, No. 3, pp. 14-23, September 1986.

("Wallpaper for the mind: computer images that are almost, but not quite, repetitive")

The color at the point (x, y) is determined from

floor(c * (x*x + y*y)) mod in ( colors)

for the given parameter c.

size

Horizontal/vertical drag causes fast/slow change of the pattern.
You can paste any image via clipboard ('Ctrl-v' key, etc.) to pick colors from it.

Fast change: horizontal drag or '<' / '>' key
Slow change: vertical drag or ',' / '.' key
Fine tuning: mouse wheel or '[' / ']' key
Next/Previous sample: '(' / ')' key
Copy c to clipboard: 'c' key
Toggle auto: 'a' key
Toggle full screen: 'f' key
Switch sample picture size: 'z' key
Show random gallery: 'x' key ('Shift/Ctrl/Alt-x' for sorting by "number of color slots" / "number of actual colors" / "default order" instead of shuffling)
Generate random variations: 'Shift+v' key (or Shift+Click pictures in "Samples" section)
Pick colors from an image: Copy & paste the image via the clipboard. ('Ctrl+v' key, etc.)
Scroll to top/middle/bottom: 'g' / 'm' / 'Shift-g' key