Kids in the 90s were playing with actual sand. Now we have hyper-realistic digital sand, because why not?

Someone has built a hyper-realistic sand simulator that runs entirely in your web browser. It's created with WebGL2 and JavaScript, and you can interact with the digital sand using touch controls on phones and tablets or with a mouse on desktops. You can push grains with your finger, tilt your device to make the sand slide, or shake to scatter it all over the place. There's even a draw function to pour and shape your own sand creations.

For engineers, this is a neat demonstration of WebGL2's capabilities for physics-based simulations in the browser, all without requiring any plugins. For users, it's a playful, oddly satisfying digital toy—a perfect way to procrastinate and pretend you're at the beach without getting any sand in your keyboard. The takeaway? The web platform can now simulate granular physics so well that you might just find yourself hypnotized by virtual sand.