Image Trail
A cursor-led image sequence that gives a quiet gallery surface a sense of movement.
- Category
- Pointer interaction
- Year
- 2026
- Status
- Available in Sona UI
Move through the frame
The images follow your path, then quietly clear away.
What it is
A decorative image sequence scoped to one visual surface.
Image Trail turns pointer movement into a short-lived sequence of images. Each image appears where the pointer has travelled, creating a tactile trail without changing the underlying content or interrupting the page flow.
Design decisions
Keeping the effect expressive, contained, and easy to ignore.
Scoped motion
The trail only exists inside the demo surface. It adds atmosphere to a focused area without turning the whole page into a moving target.
Fast clearing
Images have a short lifetime and a small maximum stack, so the effect remains a trace of movement rather than becoming a competing gallery.
Quiet fallback
Sona UI disables the pointer choreography when reduced motion is preferred. The message and surface remain fully available as the visual state settles.
Production handoff
The reusable component behind this experiment.