# Light & Shadow: my first WebGPU SSGI experiment

> One of my first WebGPU experiments: screen-space global illumination, ambient occlusion, dynamic shadows and a custom fire shader, with a time-of-day control.

Canonical page: https://andersonmancini.dev/blog/light-and-shadow-ssgi-webgpu

Published: 2026-08-14 · 1 min read · Tags: webgpu, ssgi, three.js, lighting, launch

Light & Shadow is one of my first experiments with WebGPU, and it is still the one that shows the point most directly: how much **screen-space global illumination** can change a scene.

![A scene from Light & Shadow](https://andersonmancini.dev/images/thumbs/light_shadow.webp)

## What is in it

A **time-of-day control** lets you shift the hour and watch the light reshape the whole environment. Under it:

- **SSGI**, the global illumination,
- **ambient occlusion**,
- **dynamic shadows**,
- a **custom fire shader**,
- and custom camera positions.

## Why it matters to me

It is the starting point of the line of work that became [Lumen Decor Studio](https://andersonmancini.dev/blog/lumen-decor-studio-1-ssgi.md) and later projects: first you see how much a single effect changes the picture, and then you make a product around it.

## Try it

The experiment is live at [ssgi-webgpu-demo.vercel.app](https://ssgi-webgpu-demo.vercel.app/), and the details are on the [project page](https://andersonmancini.dev/projects/light-and-shadow.md).

## Related projects

- [Light & Shadow](https://andersonmancini.dev/projects/light-and-shadow.md) — Early WebGPU SSGI lighting experiment