SciFi Ambient Display

A browser-based sci-fi ambience generator. It layers procedurally synthesized starship drones, warp/worp core pulses, life-support hiss, and background telemetry chirps into a continuous soundscape, paired with a matching on-screen console and an optional full-screen "observation deck" visualizer. Good for background noise while working, relaxing, or falling asleep.

Getting Started

The simplest way to use it: open dist/SciFiAmbientDisplay_v4.html in any modern browser (double-click it — no install, no server, no internet connection required). It's a single self-contained file with everything bundled in.

If you'd rather run it from the source files instead, open index.html the same way, or serve the folder with any static file server.

Click anywhere (or hit the Play button) to start audio — browsers require a user interaction before sound can play.

Choosing a Vessel

Use the dropdown in the header to pick a universe, then choose a specific vessel/location preset from the sidebar. Each universe has its own visual theme and soundboard:

• Starflight Command — clean flagship bridges, engineering decks, and crew quarters
• The Whataverse — time-machine consoles across several eras, from clanking Victorian brass to a coral-organic control room
• Industrial Space — grimy tugs, mining ships, and utility shuttles
• Bioships — living, breathing vessels with organic pulses and membranes
• Retro Future — atomic-age and 70s/80s-style spacecraft
• Military Space — combat bridges and tactical operations centers
• Deep Space — long-haul liners, generation ships, and research vessels
• Outlaw / Frontier — lived-in salvage ships and independent freighters
• Space Stations — orbital platforms and rotating habitats
• Comedy / Adventure — lighter, quirkier takes on the genre

Every preset changes both the ambient soundscape and the console's look and feel.

Shaping the Sound

The mixer has four independent channels, each with its own volume:

1. Hull Drone — the low, steady rumble of the ship itself
2. Worp Core — the rhythmic reactor/engine pulse
3. Life Support — airflow and ventilation hiss
4. Telemetry — sparse background computer chirps and beeps

Mute everything instantly with the header mute button, or use the master volume control. The soundboard (bottom right) adds one-off sound effects specific to the current universe — chimes, alerts, door sounds, and the like — layered on top of the ambient mix.

Sleep Timer

Set the ambience to automatically fade out and stop after 15, 30, or 60 minutes — handy for falling asleep to. Choose "OFF" to run continuously.

Observation Mode

Click the observation button to switch to a full-screen, passive display: a slow-moving starfield/warp view framed by the current ship's viewport, with an activity slider to control how much visual motion happens. It's designed to be left running on a second monitor or TV as ambient scenery, or projected in a room. Click the background (or press Escape) to return to the controls.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
Space	Play / pause
M	Mute / unmute
↑ / +	Volume up
↓ / −	Volume down
1–9	Set volume to 10%–90%
0	Set volume to 100%
W	Trigger the universe's primary event (e.g. warp jump)
R	Trigger an alert
F	Toggle the observation viewport frame (in Observation Mode)
P	Toggle support pillars (in Observation Mode)
Esc	Exit Observation Mode / stop active alerts

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For Developers

Project structure and build notes

SciFi-XZBT/
├── index.html                  # Entry point
├── css/
│   └── style.css               # Styling, CRT effects, theme colors
├── js/
│   ├── audio.js                # Web Audio synthesis, oscillators, sound engines
│   ├── config.js               # Vessel presets, universe registry & palettes
│   ├── visualizer.js           # Audio spectrum & Worp Core canvas rendering
│   ├── observation-bezels.js   # Procedural SVG viewport bezels
│   ├── observation-engine.js   # Observation mode canvas and simulation engine
│   └── app.js                  # DOM bindings, hotkeys, UI controllers & main loop
├── dist/
│   └── SciFiAmbientDisplay_v4.html  # Standalone, single-file offline build
└── tools/
    ├── package.ps1             # 1-click script to build the standalone single-file HTML
    └── extract.ps1             # Original extraction script for reference

Working on the source

• Edit the specific CSS or JS files directly.
• Audio/synthesizer logic lives in js/audio.js.
• Viewscreen bezels and framing are in js/observation-bezels.js.
• Observation-mode canvases and simulation are in js/observation-engine.js.
• Presets and the sound matrix live in js/config.js.

Repackaging to a single file

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\tools\package.ps1

This produces dist\SciFiAmbientDisplay_v4.html, combining all CSS and JS back into a self-contained, double-clickable offline file.