Click to cycle through three modes. In the first mode, the pointer drags around a filter which changes the text. In the second and third, the pointer drags around a window which reveals hidden text.
The above applet demonstrates how a 2D array of characters can behave much like a 2D array of pixels. By changing the attributes of individual characters, one can draw an image.
The next applet is an animation inspired by the caterpillar
of the Geometridae moth, so called because the caterpillar
(sometimes called an inch-worm) appears to be measuring out the earth
as it walks. (My grandfather spent a significant portion of his
life studying this particular genus of moth).
These two applets were inspired by a friend, Eugene Kim, who sent me an email containing the following line:
blop. bloP! blOP! bLOP! BLOp. BLop. Blop. blop.It very succinctly demonstrates how an impression of motion can be created by playing with the case of letters.