Show HN: Boing

Love this. Had to cheat, naturally.

    setInterval(()=>{const canvas=document.getElementById('canvas');const startX=266;const startY=198;const rect=canvas.getBoundingClientRect();const startClientX=rect.left+startX;const startClientY=rect.top+startY;let endClientX,endClientY,distance;do{endClientX=Math.random()*window.innerWidth;endClientY=Math.random()*window.innerHeight;const dx=endClientX-startClientX;const dy=endClientY-startClientY;distance=Math.sqrt(dx*dx+dy*dy)}while(distance<25);const dispatchMouseEvent=(type,target,clientX,clientY)=>{const event=new MouseEvent(type,{view:window,bubbles:true,cancelable:true,clientX:clientX,clientY:clientY,screenX:clientX+window.screenX,screenY:clientY+window.screenY,buttons:type==='mouseup'?0:1,button:0});target.dispatchEvent(event)};dispatchMouseEvent('mousedown',canvas,startClientX,startClientY);setTimeout(()=>{dispatchMouseEvent('mousemove',window,endClientX,endClientY);setTimeout(()=>{dispatchMouseEvent('mouseup',window,endClientX,endClientY)},1);},1);},1);

Funny thing: this feels "realistic" because it’s not perfect physics. A perfectly simulated Hooke's law spring actually looks fake and too stiff. But if you let the animation wobble a bit more and slow down the damping, our brain reads it as weight and squishiness.

It’s basically controlled sloppiness.

This takes me back a few years when the first of my Uni friends had a baby, they spoiled him with so many toys that their lounge room was like an obstacle field where you had to be careful where to step, but despite all his toys the baby spent all his time while I was there playing with the door spring.

There's something therapeutic about door springs, that you just have to stop and play with it.

Finally!

Time to recreate the classic: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pTgJaJYHIAs

That’s got to be one of the most satisfying things ever. The real device was a darling invention and this is a faithful recreation of the experience of being in time out in the 80s.

Any consideration on sharing the unminified code? I was a bit curious to read through the code and it seems like such a shame to keep it obfuscated. From a quick perusal, it seems like the bulk of the code comes from howler.js (a sound library), and the core functionality is conveniently implemented below the mobile template.

Oh it needs a total boings by everyone counter!

It doesnt boing rotationally, only in a straight line. Like the spring isn't really there.

If I bend it right round to one side so the spring is curved I expect it to bounce round to the other side.

If you were Elon you would claim it's an early alpha of a world simulator that in a year will be able to perfectly predict weather and stock market.

TIL I don't know how to “unmute” my device anymore. My new-ish iPhone doesn't have a physical switch on the side and I can’t find it in the settings in the pulldown menu.

Amazing to see software like this without sign-in requirements or paid subscriptions!

Oh random Flash apps, how I miss you

I noticed that the boing sound gets deeper and lower with smaller-magnitude boings. Is the boing audio generated procedurally/realistically in response to the physics of the boing, or is just playing a premade boing sound effect that's dynamically pitch shifted?

The sound is not physics based, the boing sound keeps going if you grab the head, likewise sometimes the sound ends before the vibration finishes.

i love this. it reminds me of simpler times when we’d have iphone apps/games that would explore a single mechanic and implement it really well.

I would love to see an accurately simulated version of this, à la https://www.engine-sim.parts/

Finally something I actually want to pay for!! Give us a premium tier with exclusive boingers plz

Very fun and nostalgic. The head of the boinger doesn't seem to exactly follow the cursor/finger however, at least on mobile, it always arcs.

This is the natural thing to make with this tool: https://youtube.com/watch?v=5VGLPP70Xtw

I had to stop at 100 or I would have been there all day.

Is this physics based audio?

There seems to be a minor bug. When I switch tabs and come back, sometimes the spring is moving. Some times a small amount, and other times it appears to be streched to the max, and extending off the top and bottom of the screen, until it calms down.

Safari, Mac.

As a phone user, I hate you, I hate how good this is. That counter is just mocking me.

I wasn't hearing the sound initially so I thought it wasn't working in Firefox. Put the sound all the way up and boinged again. Made me jump out of my seat. Hilarious :-)

Love this! It's highly addictive. (No guilt)

There seems to be a bug. If I catch it mid boing, the sound doesn't stop.

How many before you stopped? I am at 37.

I liked it, would love to code it

AI?

There goes my evening.

I needed this. Thank you.

boingboingboing

I noticed that the sound changes depending on how you interact with it. Neat

Most excellent.

when haptics

Can we add accelerometer support? :D

so satisfying.

fantasitic

[dead]

Hi