Reactive Backgrounds Animation — Reference

Delicate ASCII Dots

The Delicate ASCII Dots is a CSS animation component that wave interference patterns rendered with dense Braille Unicode characters. Mouse movement creates rippling waves and clicks spawn expanding rings across the grid. It ships as self-contained HTML and CSS with no external dependencies, making it drop-in ready for any modern web project regardless of framework or build system.

canvasasciibraillewavesinteractivebackgroundreactive
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When to use the Delicate ASCII Dots

Performance characteristics

How it compares

Unlike equivalent JavaScript implementations, the Delicate ASCII Dots does not require any runtime library — there is nothing to install, bundle, or load asynchronously.

Compared to animated GIFs or video embeds, this CSS component is resolution-independent, theme-able via CSS custom properties, and weighs a fraction of the equivalent media file.

Source code

CSS

css
* { margin: 0; padding: 0; box-sizing: border-box; }
    html, body { width: 100%; height: 100%; overflow: hidden; background: #000000; }
    canvas { display: block; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

HTML

html
<canvas id="c"></canvas>

Full source

html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <style>
    * { margin: 0; padding: 0; box-sizing: border-box; }
    html, body { width: 100%; height: 100%; overflow: hidden; background: #000000; }
    canvas { display: block; width: 100%; height: 100%; }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <canvas id="c"></canvas>
  <script>
    var BG = '#000000';
    var TC_HEX = '#555555';
    var GRID = 80;
    var SPEED = 0.75;
    var REMOVE_WAVE = true;

    function hexToRgbStr(h) {
      var c = h.charAt(0) === '#' ? h.slice(1) : h;
      return parseInt(c.slice(0,2),16)+', '+parseInt(c.slice(2,4),16)+', '+parseInt(c.slice(4,6),16);
    }
    var TC = hexToRgbStr(TC_HEX);

    var CHARS = '⣧⣩⣪⣫⣬⣭⣮⣯⣱⣲⣳⣴⣵⣶⣷⣹⣺⣻⣼⣽⣾⣿⠁⠂⠄⠈⠐⠠⡀⢀⠃⠅⠘⠨⠊⠋⠌⠍⠎⠏⠑⠒⠓⠔⠕⠖⠗⠙⠚⠛⠜⠝⠞⠟⠡⠢⠣⠤⠥⠦⠧⠩⠪⠫⠬⠭⠮⠯⠱⠲⠳⠴⠵⠶⠷⠹⠺⠻⠼⠽⠾⠿';

    var canvas = document.getElementById('c');
    var time = 0;
    var mouse = { x: 0, y: 0, down: false };
    var clickWaves = [];
    var bgWaves = [];
    var W = 0, H = 0;

    function initWaves() {
      bgWaves = [];
      for (var i=0; i<4; i++) {
        bgWaves.push({
          x: GRID*(0.25+Math.random()*0.5),
          y: GRID*(0.25+Math.random()*0.5),
          freq: 0.2+Math.random()*0.3,
          amp: 0.5+Math.random()*0.5,
          phase: Math.random()*Math.PI*2,
          speed: 0.5+Math.random()*0.5
        });
      }
    }

    function resize() {
      var dpr = window.devicePixelRatio || 1;
      W = innerWidth; H = innerHeight;
      canvas.width = W*dpr; canvas.height = H*dpr;
      canvas.style.width = W+'px'; canvas.style.height = H+'px';
      canvas.getContext('2d').scale(dpr, dpr);
    }

    function clickWaveFx(gx, gy, now) {
      var tot = 0;
      for (var k=0; k<clickWaves.length; k++) {
        var w = clickWaves[k];
        var age = now-w.t;
        if (age < 4000) {
          var dx = gx-w.x, dy = gy-w.y;
          var dist = Math.sqrt(dx*dx+dy*dy);
          var rad = age/4000*GRID*0.8, ww = GRID*0.15;
          if (Math.abs(dist-rad) < ww) {
            tot += (1-age/4000)*w.i*(1-Math.abs(dist-rad)/ww)*Math.sin((dist-rad)*0.5);
          }
        }
      }
      return tot;
    }

    function draw() {
      var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
      if (!W || !H) { requestAnimationFrame(draw); return; }
      time += SPEED*0.016;
      var now = Date.now();
      var cw = W/GRID, ch = H/GRID;
      var mgx = mouse.x/cw, mgy = mouse.y/ch;

      ctx.fillStyle = BG;
      ctx.fillRect(0, 0, W, H);

      var mouseWave = { x: mgx, y: mgy, freq: 0.3, amp: 1, phase: time*2, speed: 1 };
      var allWaves = bgWaves.concat([mouseWave]);

      var fs = Math.min(cw, ch)*0.8;
      ctx.font = fs+'px monospace';
      ctx.textAlign = 'center';
      ctx.textBaseline = 'middle';

      for (var gy=0; gy<GRID; gy++) {
        for (var gx=0; gx<GRID; gx++) {
          var tw = 0;
          for (var wi=0; wi<allWaves.length; wi++) {
            var wave = allWaves[wi];
            var dx = gx-wave.x, dy = gy-wave.y;
            var dist = Math.sqrt(dx*dx+dy*dy);
            var fo = 1/(1+dist*0.1);
            tw += Math.sin(dist*wave.freq - time*wave.speed + wave.phase)*wave.amp*fo;
          }
          tw += clickWaveFx(gx, gy, now);
          var md = Math.sqrt((gx-mgx)*(gx-mgx)+(gy-mgy)*(gy-mgy));
          if (md < GRID*0.3) tw += (1-md/(GRID*0.3))*0.8*Math.sin(time*3);
          if (Math.abs(tw) > 0.2) {
            var nv = (tw+2)/4;
            var ci = Math.min(CHARS.length-1, Math.max(0, Math.floor(nv*(CHARS.length-1))));
            var op = Math.min(0.9, Math.max(0.4, 0.4+nv*0.5));
            ctx.fillStyle = 'rgba('+TC+','+op+')';
            ctx.fillText(CHARS[ci], gx*cw+cw/2, gy*ch+ch/2);
          }
        }
      }

      if (!REMOVE_WAVE) {
        for (var k=0; k<clickWaves.length; k++) {
          var cw2 = clickWaves[k];
          var age2 = now-cw2.t;
          if (age2 < 4000) {
            var p = age2/4000;
            ctx.beginPath();
            ctx.strokeStyle = 'rgba('+TC+','+(1-p)*0.3*cw2.i+')';
            ctx.lineWidth = 1;
            ctx.arc(cw2.x*(W/GRID), cw2.y*(H/GRID), p*Math.min(W,H)*0.5, 0, Math.PI*2);
            ctx.stroke();
          }
        }
      }

      requestAnimationFrame(draw);
    }

    initWaves();
    resize();
    window.addEventListener('resize', resize);
    canvas.addEventListener('mousemove', function(e) {
      var rect = canvas.getBoundingClientRect();
      mouse.x = e.clientX-rect.left; mouse.y = e.clientY-rect.top;
    });
    canvas.addEventListener('mousedown', function(e) {
      mouse.down = true;
      var rect = canvas.getBoundingClientRect();
      var cw = W/GRID, ch = H/GRID;
      clickWaves.push({ x: (e.clientX-rect.left)/cw, y: (e.clientY-rect.top)/ch, t: Date.now(), i: 2 });
      var now = Date.now();
      clickWaves = clickWaves.filter(function(w){ return now-w.t < 4000; });
    });
    canvas.addEventListener('mouseup', function(){ mouse.down = false; });
    draw();
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Frequently asked questions

How do I add the Delicate ASCII Dots to my project?

Copy the full source code from the code block on this page. Paste the <style> block into your stylesheet (or a <style> tag in your HTML head) and the HTML markup into your template. No npm install or build step is required — the animation is self-contained. To customize colors, speed, or size, use Grepped's workspace at grepped.dev/animations/reactive-backgrounds/delicate-ascii-dots.

Is the Delicate ASCII Dots free to use?

Yes. All Grepped preset animations are free to use in personal and commercial projects. You may copy, modify, and redistribute the code without attribution. The only limitation is that you may not resell the presets themselves as part of a competing animation library.

Does the Delicate ASCII Dots work on mobile browsers?

Yes. The Delicate ASCII Dots uses standard CSS animations and transforms that are supported in all modern mobile browsers — Chrome for Android, Safari on iOS 9+, Samsung Internet, and Firefox for Android. Where JavaScript is used for interactivity (e.g. cursor effects), it falls back gracefully on touch devices.

Can I customize the Delicate ASCII Dots's colors, speed, or size?

Yes. Open the live customization workspace at grepped.dev/animations/reactive-backgrounds/delicate-ascii-dots to adjust the animation with real-time sliders, color pickers, and toggles — no code required. For deeper changes, the source code uses CSS custom properties (variables) so you can edit them directly in your stylesheet.

Want to customize this animation or generate a new one from a text prompt?

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