aframe-dust-component

An A-Frame WebXR component that surrounds the user with a cloud of particles. As the user moves, particles from behind the user respawn in front (so you don't have to fill the whole space with particles).

This provides visual feedback on the user's motion, which is useful when flying or moving in unearthly spaces.

Can also be used to add atmosphere - pink fairy lights for a paradise, black ash for a hellscape.

The performance cost is modest, unless you use tens of thousands of particles.

live example scene - use WASD + mouse to look around

Used in Elfland Glider

Basic Usage

<script src="https://unpkg.com/aframe-dust-component@^1.1.0/aframe-dust-component.js"></script>

<a-dust></a-dust>

Leave the position at 0 0 0, and place the dust as a direct child of the scene.

You should explicitly set a camera (or a "vehicle" that contains the camera) in some init function:

let cameraEl = sceneEl.querySelector('[camera]');
let dustEl = sceneEl.querySelector('a-dust');

// delays setup until there's some slack time (for Safari or Edge, you'll need to polyfill requestIdleCallback)
requestIdleCallback( () => {
	dustEl.components.dust.setCamera(cameraEl);
});

Advanced Usage

<script src="https://unpkg.com/aframe-dust-component@^1.1.0/aframe-dust-component.js"></script>

<a-dust num-points="24576" dispersion="200" color="black" point-size="4"></a-dust>

let cameraEl = sceneEl.querySelector('[camera]');
let dustEl = sceneEl.querySelector('a-dust');

// delays setup until there's some slack time (for Safari or Edge, you'll need to polyfill requestIdleCallback)
requestIdleCallback( () => {
	dustEl.components.dust.setCamera(cameraEl);
});

Properties

color

CSS color of particles; default gray

num-points

The number of particles; default 128

dispersion

How close the particles will stay to the user, in meters; default 100

point-size

The size of particles, in pixels; default 1