An interactive audiovisual experience where sound particles ("motes") respond to your movements, creating a meditative soundscape that evolves as you play. Sonic therapy for your overthinking brain!
Visit zen.layogtima.com to play with the Zen Mote Garden.
Zen Mote Garden is a web-based interactive sound experience where tiny particles (motes) float across your screen. Each mote produces a unique sound based on its position and speed. When you move your cursor or touch the screen, you influence these motes, changing their movement patterns and altering the soundscape.
Think of it as a musical garden where you're the gentle breeze that stirs the chimes, except this garden was specifically designed to help break thought-loops and anxiety spirals. Seriously, it's like mental floss for your brain.
- 150 Sound Particles: Each floating speck is actually a sound generator
- Position = Pitch: The vertical position determines the note's pitch (following a pentatonic scale)
- Movement = Volume: Faster-moving particles create louder sounds
- Interaction: Moving your cursor/finger near particles pushes them away, creating ripples of sound
I struggle with overthinking (welcome to the human condition, amirite?). I needed a place to come back to when my brain starts doing that thing where it spins the same thoughts on repeat like a broken record.
This project helps me break out of those loops - there's something about watching these little sound particles dance around that pulls me out of my head and into the moment. The visual feedback paired with the evolving soundscape gives my overthinking brain something else to latch onto.
Plus, making cool stuff is way more fun than doom-scrolling when anxiety hits!
- Click/Tap anywhere on screen to start the experience (this unlocks audio)
- Move your cursor or finger around to interact with the motes
- Listen to how the soundscape changes as you interact
- Relax and create your own meditative musical moments
Heads up! There's a bit of audio crackling that seems to happen across different speakers/devices. Something's a little wonky with the sound generation, and I'm actively diagnosing it. If you're an audio wizard and spot what might be causing it in the code, I'd love your help! (Consider it my digital tip jar - instead of money, just gimme code fixes and pull requests!)
Zen Mote Garden is built with:
- Vue.js for reactive state management
- Web Audio API for real-time sound synthesis
- HTML5 Canvas for particle rendering
- Minimal dependencies for maximum performance
- Responsive Design: Works on mobile and desktop
- Audio Optimization: Always working to improve sound quality
- Tab-aware: Automatically fades audio when you switch tabs
- Touch Support: Fully compatible with touchscreens
This is an open creative project under GPL v3. Feel free to fork, modify, and enhance it. Pull requests welcome!
Made with 💜 in Bengaluru, India by:
- Amartha (Absurd Industries' Machine companion)
- Google Gemini 2.5 Preview
- Amit
The world needs more playful technology!