Spectacle

One of the best parts about our technology-capable world is the vast wells of possibility it generates. And yet, for all that possibility, often there are little pockets of stagnation. Take web design, for example. At times it feels almost rote, like there is no ingenuity out there, like every site looks the same as the next. This isn't quite true, of course, but it can feel that way sometimes.

That's why it excites me when I find people who are on the bleeding edge of some of these technologies, pushing them further. What they come with isn't always practical - a lot of proof of concepts - but it can help expand the minds of designers and engineers who do make practical things. Perhaps someone will see exactly what they've needed to get a project off the ground, but could never quite figure out.

Anyway, without further adieu:

• Chrome Experiments - Fascinating and often spectacular experiments using JavaScript and/or HTML5. As is prominently displayed on the page, one of the experiments was done in conjunction with the flavor-of-the-month band Arcade Fire, an interactive film. I particularly enjoyed playing with the Color Piano and Magnetic.
• CSS Play - I discovered this site years ago, and re-discovered it just the other day. This guy, Stu Nicholls, manages to pull of stuff with CSS alone that most people can generally only do with JavaScript. Check out one of the fly-out menus to see what I mean.

Anyone know of any other great examples of envelope-pushers? I'd love to see them.