WebGPU is a revolutionary technology that enhances web graphics by utilizing a device’s GPU for advanced rendering capabilities. It builds upon the foundation set by WebGL and was first introduced in Google Chrome in April 2023, with plans to expand to other browsers like Safari and Firefox. With WebGPU, developers can efficiently create 3D graphics on HTML canvases and perform GPU computations. It comes with its own language called WGSL to simplify development processes.
In this tutorial, we will focus on a specific WebGPU technique – using compute shaders for image effects. If you’re new to WebGPU, we recommend checking out introductory tutorials before diving into this one. The tutorial will cover the reaction-diffusion algorithm and how to implement it using compute shaders for image effects.
The program structure involves two main WebGPU pipelines – a compute pipeline for running the reaction-diffusion algorithm and a render pipeline for creating the final composition. We use the webgpu-utils library and the float16 library for creating and updating storage textures for the compute pipeline.
The compute workflow involves running a reaction-diffusion simulation using a compute shader. We use a method called “texture ping-ponging” to swap between two textures for each iteration of the simulation. This method allows us to write directly to any pixel within the texture and improve performance using compute shaders.
Initialization involves setting up layout descriptors, buffers, textures, and bind groups before running the simulation. We use smaller textures to speed up processing and recreate textures when needed, like when the canvas is resized. The simulation requires addressing every pixel in the textures, which is achieved using a workgroup size of 64.
To optimize performance, we introduce a tile size to process multiple pixels per thread and use a pixel cache to reduce redundant texture reads. The compute function uses a nested for loop to process pixels efficiently and store them in the cache for future calculations.
Overall, WebGPU and compute shaders offer a powerful tool for creating complex image effects and simulations on the web.
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