A strange attractor is the long-term behavior of a chaotic dynamical system
These are solutions to differential equations — simple rules that produce infinitely complex, never-repeating paths
The glowing trail traces a single particle moving through 3D space according to these equations
Despite appearing random, attractors have precise geometric structure — zoom in and you'll see the same patterns at every scale
How to interact
Drag to rotate the view around the attractor
Scroll to zoom in/out
Use the system dropdown to switch between 13 different attractors
Try the presets to see different behaviors of the same system
Adjust parameters to explore the edge of chaos
Space pause R reset S screenshot H hide panel ? this help
What the controls do
Parameters — Each system's differential equation has constants. Changing them warps the attractor's shape. Small changes can cause sudden transitions between order and chaos.
Speed — How many integration steps per frame. Faster = longer trails per second.
Trail Length — How many points the trail remembers. Longer = see more history.
Bloom — Glow intensity from additive blending that makes it luminous.
Color modes — Time gradient (age-based), Velocity map (speed-based), FunForrest mono (brightness only).
Multi-particle — Run several particles simultaneously to see how nearby trajectories diverge (demonstrates sensitive dependence).
Auto-orbit — Camera slowly rotates for a cinematic view.
Morph on switch — When changing systems, keeps the particle's current position (smooth morph) vs. reinitializing.
The 13 Systems
Why it matters
Chaos theory shows that deterministic systems can be fundamentally unpredictable
Weather, turbulence, population dynamics, heart rhythms — all governed by similar equations
These visualizations reveal the hidden geometric order within apparent randomness
H — hide panel · Space — pause · R — reset · S — screenshot · ? — help