02 / 25·Motion & Interaction
MERIDIAN
Hadal ocean descent. Scroll from the surface to 10,935 metres down.
About the work
A research-station site where the scrollbar is a depth gauge. The page descends from sunlit water to the hadal zone — the water column darkens through real optical color stops, bioluminescent life drifts past on canvas, and a sonar ping marks the bottom.
How it was made
The descent was storyboarded as depth chapters before any code. Iteration focused on legibility in the sunlit zone — the cyan HUD washed out against bright water and was rebuilt as a compact high-contrast instrument — and on collapsing the gauge cleanly on mobile.
Like every work in the exhibition, it passed three full iteration passes — a visual critique, a deepening pass, and a QA pass at 390px with reduced motion and zero console errors — and documents itself in its own build guide.
Key features
- Scroll position mapped 1:1 to ocean depth with a live HUD gauge
- Water color graded through physically ordered absorption stops
- Canvas plankton, siphonophores and lanternfish per depth zone
- A single sonar ping as you touch the trench floor
Technology
- Canvas 2D
- GSAP ScrollTrigger
- Scroll choreography
In its own light
