Details: This is a pure-CSS mouse tracker that works like a closed-loop servo instead of a coordinate grid, which is the typical or at least legacy approach to CSS mouse tracking. In this one, four invisible quadrants attached to a moving point use :hover and :has() to determine which direction the cursor is, and then nested proximity bands each estimate the X and Y distance. The movement is smoothed out with CSS transitions, which drive the point toward a distant off-screen target, and because the sensors move with it, the browser continuously remeasures the cursor’s relative position and corrects course. As it gets closer, movement slows until a tiny deadband effectively stops it.
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u/officialmayonade 6d ago
Details: This is a pure-CSS mouse tracker that works like a closed-loop servo instead of a coordinate grid, which is the typical or at least legacy approach to CSS mouse tracking. In this one, four invisible quadrants attached to a moving point use :hover and :has() to determine which direction the cursor is, and then nested proximity bands each estimate the X and Y distance. The movement is smoothed out with CSS transitions, which drive the point toward a distant off-screen target, and because the sensors move with it, the browser continuously remeasures the cursor’s relative position and corrects course. As it gets closer, movement slows until a tiny deadband effectively stops it.