A companion for the curious
Meet the companions and explore how they bring a little life to the page.
A companion for the curious
A little company while you read. A glance toward an idea worth noticing. An invitation to ask a better question.
The avatars bring a little life to the page. They find room beside the writing, respond to selected passages, and offer a way into a conversation about what you’re reading.
The same idea takes a different shape in each animal: a flight, a hop, a slow climb, a flutter, or a balanced leap. Explore a species below, start its live preview, and choose an action under Species Specific to watch its characteristic performances. A movement may wait until the sample page offers enough clear space.
A pied-tamarin caricature that climbs with alternating claw grips, leaps between safe rests, handles fruit with both hands, and gives a brief social tongue flick. The long tail balances the body; it never grips or supports hanging. Dry face and fur cleaning and a water-leaf sip round out its care.
Species demonstrations: Leap to another rest · Climb a page edge · Offer fruit · Social tongue flick.
A slow reaching crawl, claw-supported edge climbing, and a hanging rest give the Sloth its measured pace. Leaf feeding uses deliberate hand-to-mouth contact. Its care repertoire also includes grooming, stretching, sleep and waking, drinking, washing, and bathing.
Species demonstrations: Climb an edge · Offer a leaf.
Steps and hops give way to banking and gliding flight. Fruit handling follows the Toucan’s grasp, toss, and swallow sequence. Preening attends to wing, breast, and underwing feathers; stretching, tucked rest, and bathing provide quieter performances. Its full paper entrance belongs to the homepage logo.
Species demonstrations: Fly · Preen · Offer fruit.
A crouch loads the haunches before a springing hop and a settled landing. Feeding uses a tongue-and-fly catch. A leaf bath leads into soaking, exit, and a shake to dry. Curious and surprised looks, grooming, stretching, rest and waking, and a paper refuge complete the available repertoire.
Species demonstrations: Hop sides · Feed a fly · Bathe.
Light fluttering and a bounded hover beside a passage give the Butterfly its movement. Antenna grooming, flower feeding, and water sipping use delicate contacts. Wing cleaning, stretching, rest and waking, and expressive wing and body gestures accompany its paper-home return and emergence.
Species demonstrations: Groom antennae · Offer a flower · Offer water.
Resting stillPreview zoom magnifies the live painting. Site size stays unchanged.
Choose Start live preview to bring the companion to life.
A slower pace and an expressive face.
Choose a behavior to watch the complete action. Each avatar has its own repertoire.
Saved in this browser for supported pages. The Aviary keeps its own animals.
From “A Tip I Picked Up Somewhere”
Do not debate the bug. Reproduce it.Read the note
Do not argue about the fix. Prove it.
Changes the cue on the illustrative sample page. The published note keeps its original takeaway tag.
The current system uses editorial classification. Passages in articles and notes are deliberately selected and tagged as a takeaway, a funny observation, a thoughtful moment, or a surprising idea. It does not automatically judge every paragraph or infer a reader’s emotions.
As a passage comes into view, the companion checks visibility, proximity, clear space, and its current activity before reacting. Some categories share the same quiet gesture. Ask carries a page or passage reference into the conversation, so the answer can stay grounded in the writing.
Movement uses measured page surfaces and clear space. Each creature has its own pace, posture, and repertoire. An authored action moves through preparation, contact, and recovery, with quiet pauses between gestures.
Your choice follows you across supported public pages. Pause, resume, hide, or bring the companion back from its menu. Reduced-motion preferences keep it quiet. Preview controls on this page stay separate from your saved settings.
The companions are painted characters animated from authored poses. A close-up magnifies the existing live artwork; it does not add detail to a smaller texture. The avatar project documents the original paintings, the animation workshop, and the limits of the current rig. Visit the Aviary for the animals’ separate habitat.