When a shopper selects a book (picking arrives in Actions and Picking), BookNest swaps its cover material for the rim material, pulls it 4 cm off the shelf and pulses the strength uniform. Changing an InputBlock's value updates a uniform, not the shader, so the pulse costs nothing to recompile:
<canvas id="view" style="width: 620px; height: 180px"></canvas>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/babylonjs@9.28.0/babylon.js"></script>
<script src="bookstore.js"></script>
<script>
{
const engine = new BABYLON.Engine(view, true, {}, true);
const scene = BookNestStore.createScene(engine);
BookNestStore.createRoom(scene);
const left = BookNestStore.createBookcase(scene, 'bookcaseLeft', -1.8);
const books = BookNestStore.placeBooks(scene, left);
const covers = BookNestStore.coverBooks(scene, books);
const selected = books[1]; // Patterns of the Deep Web
selected.material = BookNestStore.createSpineHighlight(scene, covers[1].albedoTexture);
selected.position.z -= 0.04; // toward the shopper
BookNestStore.lightRoom(scene); // Section 7.7.8's shadows
const strength = selected.material.getBlockByName('strength');
scene.onBeforeRenderObservable.add(() => { // pulse 0.8 to 1.6
strength.value = 1.2 + 0.4 * Math.sin(scene.getFrameId() / 20);
});
const target = new BABYLON.Vector3(-1.75, 1.35, 2.65);
new BABYLON.ArcRotateCamera('browse', -1.95, 1.4, 0.8, target, scene).minZ = 0.05;
BookNestStore.renderWhenReady(engine, scene, 10);
}
</script>
Under lightRoom's sun and cascaded shadows, the selected book's side and top catch a warm rim where they turn from the camera, while its spine keeps the lit cover color. To deselect, assign covers[1] back. For many highlighted objects at once, HighlightLayer (Glow and Highlight) outlines meshes in a post-process instead.
<!doctype html>
<style>
body { margin: 0; background: #f7f3ec; font: 13px system-ui, sans-serif; color: #333; }
canvas { width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: 300px; display: block; touch-action: none; outline: none; }
</style>
<canvas id="view"></canvas>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/babylonjs@9.28.0/babylon.js"></script>
<script>
// ---- BookNest's bookstore: the helpers the book keeps in bookstore.js ----
const ROOM = { width: 8, depth: 6, height: 3, wall: 0.15 };
const BOOKS = [
{ id: 1, title: 'The Quiet Harbor', author: 'Mara Ellison', color: '#1f5f8b', pages: 312, price: 14.99, rating: 4.6, inStock: true },
{ id: 2, title: 'Patterns of the Deep Web', author: 'Tomas Reyes', color: '#5b3f99', pages: 428, price: 32.5, rating: 4.4, inStock: true },
{ id: 3, title: 'Salt and Saffron', author: 'Priya Nair', color: '#e09a10', pages: 256, price: 24, rating: 4.8, inStock: false },
{ id: 4, title: 'Small Steps to Big Summits', author: 'Dana Whitfield', color: '#3f7d3a', pages: 198, price: 18.5, rating: 4.3, inStock: true },
{ id: 5, title: "The Clockmaker's Paradox", author: 'Julian Voss', color: '#b5452f', pages: 344, price: 16.75, rating: 4.7, inStock: true },
{ id: 6, title: 'Gardens in Glass', author: 'Lena Hart', color: '#2a9d8f', pages: 176, price: 21.3, rating: 4.5, inStock: true },
];
function createScene(engine) {
const scene = new BABYLON.Scene(engine);
scene.clearColor = BABYLON.Color4.FromHexString('#cfd8dcff');
const sky = new BABYLON.HemisphericLight('sky', new BABYLON.Vector3(0.3, 1, -0.4), scene);
sky.groundColor = new BABYLON.Color3(0.35, 0.32, 0.3);
return scene;
}
function paint(scene, name, hex) { // a matte color
const material = new BABYLON.StandardMaterial(name, scene);
material.diffuseColor = BABYLON.Color3.FromHexString(hex);
material.specularColor = BABYLON.Color3.Black();
return material;
}
function createRoom(scene) { // floor and three walls, front open
const room = new BABYLON.TransformNode('room', scene);
const floor = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateGround('floor', { width: ROOM.width, height: ROOM.depth }, scene);
floor.material = paint(scene, 'oak', '#b08d6a');
floor.parent = room;
const plaster = paint(scene, 'plaster', '#fff3e0');
for (const [name, width, x, z] of [['backWall', 8, 0, 3], ['leftWall', 6, -4, 0], ['rightWall', 6, 4, 0]]) {
const wall = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox(name, { width, height: ROOM.height, depth: ROOM.wall }, scene);
wall.position.set(x, ROOM.height / 2, z);
wall.rotation.y = x ? Math.PI / 2 : 0;
wall.material = plaster;
wall.parent = room;
}
return room;
}
function createBookcase(scene, name, x) { // 8 boxes merged into 1 mesh
const [w, h, d, t] = [3, 2.2, 0.35, 0.04];
const parts = [[t, h, d, -w / 2, h / 2, 0], [t, h, d, w / 2, h / 2, 0], [w, h, t, 0, h / 2, d / 2 - t / 2]];
for (let i = 0; i < 5; i++) parts.push([w, t, d, 0, 0.1 + i * 0.5, 0]);
const bookcase = BABYLON.Mesh.MergeMeshes(parts.map(([width, height, depth, px, py, pz]) => {
const part = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox('part', { width, height, depth }, scene);
part.position.set(px, py, pz);
return part;
}), true);
bookcase.name = name;
bookcase.material = paint(scene, 'walnut', '#6d4c33');
bookcase.position.set(x, 0, ROOM.depth / 2 - ROOM.wall / 2 - d / 2); // against the back wall
return bookcase;
}
function drawCover(scene, book) { // cover art painted on a canvas
const tex = new BABYLON.DynamicTexture('cover' + book.id, { width: 256, height: 384 }, scene);
const c = tex.getContext();
c.fillStyle = book.color; c.fillRect(0, 0, 256, 384);
c.fillStyle = 'rgba(0,0,0,0.4)'; c.fillRect(0, 0, 18, 384); // the dark left edge
c.strokeStyle = '#fff8e1'; c.lineWidth = 3; c.strokeRect(34, 24, 202, 336);
c.fillStyle = '#fff8e1'; c.textAlign = 'center'; c.font = 'bold 30px Georgia';
const lines = [''];
for (const word of book.title.split(' ')) {
const test = (lines[lines.length - 1] + ' ' + word).trim();
if (c.measureText(test).width > 180) lines.push(word); else lines[lines.length - 1] = test;
}
lines.forEach((line, i) => c.fillText(line, 135, 110 + i * 38));
c.font = '20px Georgia'; c.fillText(book.author, 135, 330);
tex.update();
return tex;
}
function placeBooks(scene, bookcase, shelf = 2) { // six books, spines out, covers on +x
const strip = new BABYLON.Vector4(0, 0, 0.07, 1);
const faceUV = [strip, strip, new BABYLON.Vector4(0, 0, 1, 1), strip, strip, strip];
let x = -0.35; // left end of the row, local to the bookcase
return BOOKS.map((record) => {
const width = record.pages / 4000 + 0.02; // spine thickness from page count
const book = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox(`book${record.id}`, { width, height: 0.3, depth: 0.22, faceUV, wrap: true }, scene);
book.parent = bookcase;
book.position.set(x + width / 2, 0.12 + shelf * 0.5 + 0.15, -0.02);
x += width + 0.012;
book.material = new BABYLON.StandardMaterial(record.title, scene);
book.material.diffuseTexture = drawCover(scene, record);
book.material.specularColor = new BABYLON.Color3(0.15, 0.15, 0.15);
book.metadata = record; // the record, for picking
return book;
});
}
// The book cuts the storefront with CSG2 (Manifold WebAssembly); this sandbox cannot download
// the .wasm, so the older pure-JavaScript BABYLON.CSG makes the same cuts here.
function createFrontWall(scene) {
const box = (width, height, depth, x, y) => {
const mesh = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox('cut', { width, height, depth }, scene);
mesh.position.set(x, y, -ROOM.depth / 2);
return mesh;
};
const solid = box(ROOM.width, ROOM.height, ROOM.wall, 0, ROOM.height / 2);
const windowHole = box(3.2, 1.6, 1, -1.4, 1.6), doorHole = box(1.1, 2.2, 1, 2.3, 1.1);
const wall = BABYLON.CSG.FromMesh(solid).subtract(BABYLON.CSG.FromMesh(windowHole))
.subtract(BABYLON.CSG.FromMesh(doorHole)).toMesh('frontWall', scene.getMaterialByName('plaster'), scene);
[solid, windowHole, doorHole].forEach((mesh) => mesh.dispose());
return wall;
}
// ---- end of the bookstore helpers ----
function lightRoom(scene) { // call after the meshes exist
scene.getLightByName('sky').intensity = 0.5; // the sky light becomes fill light
const sun = new BABYLON.DirectionalLight('sun', new BABYLON.Vector3(0.2, -0.33, 1), scene);
sun.intensity = 0.8;
sun.diffuse = BABYLON.Color3.FromHexString('#fff1d6'); // warm afternoon sun
const ceiling = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox('ceiling', { width: ROOM.width, height: ROOM.wall, depth: ROOM.depth }, scene);
ceiling.position.y = ROOM.height + ROOM.wall / 2;
ceiling.layerMask = 0x10000000; // no camera draws it; it still casts
const shadows = new BABYLON.CascadedShadowGenerator(2048, sun);
Object.assign(shadows, { numCascades: 3, shadowMaxZ: 20, lambda: 1,
autoCalcDepthBounds: true, bias: 0.002, normalBias: 0.01 });
for (const mesh of scene.meshes) {
if (mesh.name !== 'floor') shadows.addShadowCaster(mesh);
mesh.receiveShadows = true;
}
const lamp = new BABYLON.PointLight('lamp', new BABYLON.Vector3(-1.2, 2.3, 1.4), scene);
lamp.diffuse = BABYLON.Color3.FromHexString('#ffd9a0');
Object.assign(lamp, { intensity: 0.7, range: 5 }); // a warm reading lamp
return { sun, lamp, shadows };
}
function createSpineHighlight(scene, texture, rimHex = '#ffe082') {
const material = new BABYLON.NodeMaterial('spineHighlight', scene, { emitComments: true });
const input = (name, value) => { // attribute, system value or uniform
const node = new BABYLON.InputBlock(name);
if (value === 'attribute') node.setAsAttribute(name);
else if (typeof value !== 'string') node.value = value;
else node.setAsSystemValue(BABYLON.NodeMaterialSystemValues[value]);
return node.output;
};
const block = (type, name, inputs, props = {}) => { // a block with its inputs wired
const node = Object.assign(new BABYLON[type](name), props);
for (const [port, source] of Object.entries(inputs)) source.connectTo(node[port]);
return node;
};
const world = input('world', 'World');
const eye = input('cameraPosition', 'CameraPosition');
const worldPos = block('TransformBlock', 'worldPos',
{ vector: input('position', 'attribute'), transform: world }).output;
const clipPos = block('TransformBlock', 'clipPos',
{ vector: worldPos, transform: input('viewProjection', 'ViewProjection') });
const vertexOut = block('VertexOutputBlock', 'vertexOut', { vector: clipPos.output });
const normal = block('TransformBlock', 'worldNormal', { vector: input('normal', 'attribute'),
transform: world }, { complementW: 0 }).output; // a direction: no translation
const cover = block('TextureBlock', 'cover', { uv: input('uv', 'attribute') }, { texture });
const light = block('LightBlock', 'light', { worldPosition: worldPos, worldNormal: normal,
cameraPosition: eye, diffuseColor: cover.rgb, view: input('view', 'View') }); // the scene's lights
const toEye = block('ViewDirectionBlock', 'toEye', { worldPosition: worldPos, cameraPosition: eye });
const fresnel = block('FresnelBlock', 'fresnel', { worldNormal: normal,
viewDirection: toEye.output, bias: input('bias', 0), power: input('power', 1) });
const edge = block('OneMinusBlock', 'edge', { input: fresnel.fresnel }); // 1 at the rim
const amount = block('MultiplyBlock', 'amount', { left: edge.output, right: input('strength', 1) });
const rim = block('ScaleBlock', 'rim', { factor: amount.output,
input: input('rimColor', BABYLON.Color3.FromHexString(rimHex)) });
const sum = block('AddBlock', 'sum', { left: light.diffuseOutput, right: rim.output });
const fragmentOut = block('FragmentOutputBlock', 'fragmentOut', { rgb: sum.output });
[vertexOut, fragmentOut].forEach((node) => material.addOutputNode(node));
material.build();
return material;
}
const canvas = document.getElementById('view');
const engine = new BABYLON.Engine(canvas, true, {}, true);
const scene = createScene(engine);
createRoom(scene);
const left = createBookcase(scene, 'bookcaseLeft', -1.8);
const books = placeBooks(scene, left);
const selected = books[1]; // Patterns of the Deep Web
const cover = selected.material; // keep it to deselect later
selected.material = createSpineHighlight(scene, cover.diffuseTexture);
selected.position.z -= 0.04; // 4 cm toward the shopper
lightRoom(scene);
// Changing an InputBlock's value updates a uniform, so the pulse never recompiles the shader
const strength = selected.material.getBlockByName('strength');
scene.onBeforeRenderObservable.add(() => { // pulse 0.8 to 1.6
strength.value = 1.2 + 0.4 * Math.sin(scene.getFrameId() / 20);
});
selected.computeWorldMatrix(true);
const target = selected.getAbsolutePosition().clone();
const camera = new BABYLON.ArcRotateCamera('browse', -1.95, 1.4, 1.1, target, scene);
camera.minZ = 0.05;
camera.attachControl(canvas, true);
engine.runRenderLoop(() => scene.render());
addEventListener('resize', () => engine.resize());
</script>