A simple structural algorithm holds the computational power to generate whatever could happen within perceived visual reality.
Think of an image as a matrix of pixels. If you loop through every color option for each individual pixel one by one, you will eventually render every visual pattern imaginable.
Uses 8 bits per pixel to cycle through raw gray values from pure black to pure white.
Uses 24 bits per pixel for full color. You can also upload a custom image here to find its exact layout index in our sequence.
// Loops 7 colors across a tiny 3x3 grid to create every permutation
function generateAll3x3() {
const pixels = 9;
const colors = 7;
const total = Math.pow(colors, pixels);
for (let i = 0; i < total; i++) {
const state = i.toString(colors).padStart(pixels, '0');
renderImage(state);
}
}Everything you see on a digital screen is just a layout of colored pixels. Instead of treating images as static photos, this project treats them as a giant mathematical sequence. We built a simulation where a blank canvas acts as a grid containing some possible combination of light and color.
The scale of the grid gets massive incredibly fast. For this simulation, we're using a 100x100 pixel canvas. With three color channels (RGB) per pixel, that gives us 30,000 individual color inputs. To keep things manageable, we limited the color depth to 8 shades per channel (numbered 0 to 7). Even with that limitation, the total number of possible unique images comes out to $8^{30,000}$.
To map out this grid, the script assigns every single frame its own unique index number using BigInt. The engine calculates the index based on time elapsed since the project was initialized (June 29, 2026). The code then converts that time-index into specific color values and renders them directly onto the canvas frame by frame.
While the code will theoretically generate everything, it also shows how rare structured images actually are. Recognizable shapes—like a person's face, a house, or a tree—require highly specific pixel placement. Because random combinations are infinitely more common, almost everything the simulator renders will look like pure static or television noise.
— Inspired by Adrian Cooney