Bring back/replace the old webGL view

[katomm]

Due to time constraints, it was not possible to port the old webGL view in the background on the start page as soon as the open source site was launched. This issue is a reminder to do this. Old screenshot of the webGL view in on desktop:

[RayTracedObserver]

To be honest I think it's time to make some new cover art. This one has been there for a few years already. Or at least if this one is brought back to life it needs to be improved as it always had trouble loading fast on mobile devices and often looked slightly pixellated due to perhaps having too thin lines or just due to some not entirely perfect anti aliasing setting.

Why not launch a contest within the community ? I am sure there are great artists out there who are enthusiastic about the Cardano philosophy and tech.

[katomm]

Thanks, that's good feedback. I'm still not sure if many people realized that this was a representation of the git commits of the Cardano-SL repo. It was never fully finished either.

The idea was very cool, but as you mentioned, too many trade offs in particular on mobile environments. (also the reason why the rewrite of the site didn't put much emphasis on this for the time being)

Mentioned here for the sake of completeness: https://github.com/input-output-hk/medusa

[RayTracedObserver]

Another option that would be sort of cool would be to load a different artwork every time the page is loaded and rotate between all of them, displaying several artist's Cardano inspired art.

I wasn't aware that the medusa was called medusa and that it was a visualization of the GitHub repo, cool idea indeed that could profit from being reworked yes, maybe the web-gl moving version could only be loaded on desktops while keeping only a static version on mobile for better performance and loading times.

As of right now the static version really looks too pixellated and yes the web gl needs improved thicker lines, better antialiasing and some reworking, perhaps ever so slightly less "bland" colors. Although I do think people would enjoy seeing something completely different rather than a rework... So either just replace this one, or rotate between new art and make an improved medusa that will be included in the rotated artwork.

Also, why not take some inspiration from museums and art books which always have a little descriptive label next to the artwork (here it could be superimposed on hover instead rather than next to it). This way users would actually know what they are looking at, know the artist's name (if multiple contributors just mention "multiple contributors" as the artist).

While this has no real use other than a poetic one, I think it's important for art to be part of the decentralized experience. Art makes things feel more human and more connected.