Visual Interference and Emergent Beauty
When two repetitive patterns overlap with slightly different frequencies or angles, something magical happens: large-scale interference fringes emerge from the interaction of fine-scale structures. These moire patterns appear everywhere — in screen doors, fabric weaves, printed halftones, and precision metrology. They are the visual analog of musical beats, turning tiny differences into sweeping visual waves. Move your mouse, twist the sliders, and watch interference paint itself across the screen.
The core moire effect: overlapping periodic structures with slightly different parameters produce large-scale beats.
Two parallel line gratings with slightly different spacing and angle. The classic moire effect — move the mouse to shift one grating and watch the fringes sweep across.
Two sets of concentric circles centered at different points. Their interference creates mesmerizing spiral-like patterns that shift as centers move apart.
Two fan-like spoke patterns from different centers overlap to trace cardioid interference curves. The spoke count controls fringe density beautifully.
Concentric circles meet parallel lines to produce conic sections — ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas emerge from pure interference geometry.
Moire in the world of color reproduction — halftone screens, RGB subpixels, and the art of avoiding (or embracing) interference.
Three overlapping halftone dot screens at different angles simulate CMYK printing. See rosette patterns form or distracting moire appear as angles change.
Red, green, and blue line gratings at different angles create shimmering rainbow interference. Additive color mixing meets moire for a chromatic light show.
From magnification tricks to animation illusions to precision engineering — moire put to work.
A tiny micro-pattern viewed through a slightly different-pitch lens array produces magnified virtual images. Reveals invisible details through interference.
Scanimation: a striped overlay slides across interleaved animation frames, creating the illusion of motion from a static image. Drag or auto-animate.
The mathematical heart of moire: two sinusoidal gratings multiply to produce sum and difference frequencies. Pixel-level rendering of the beat equation.
Simulates strain measurement: a reference grating overlays a deforming specimen. Click to apply local deformations and watch fringes reveal the displacement field.