What is the Menger sponge?

Take a cube, divide it into 27 smaller cubes, and remove the centre cube of each face plus the one in the middle. Repeat on the 20 that remain, forever. Karl Menger described it in 1926. In the limit it has infinite surface area and zero volume, and its Hausdorff dimension is about 2.727 — more than a surface, less than a solid.

Why does it fill the whole frame instead of showing one cube?

Vortexia uses the space-folding form of the distance estimator, which repeats the structure infinitely rather than bounding it. The effect is being inside an endless lattice rather than looking at an object, which reads as an architectural corridor. That is deliberate, and it is where the preset name Menger Temple comes from.

Why is its estimator cheaper than the Mandelbulb one?

It uses only absolute values, component sorting and scaling. The Mandelbulb needs acos, atan, sin, cos and pow on every iteration, and transcendental functions are expensive on a GPU. The Menger still measures slightly slower overall (5.56 ms versus 3.25 ms at 720p) because its lattice fills far more of the frame with surface, so more rays actually hit something.

Does it react to music?

Yes. The 128-bin spectrum drives the camera and the colour: bass shifts elevation, treble affects saturation and the chromatic fringe. Because the lattice surrounds the camera, bass movement reads as the corridor breathing around you.

The Menger sponge is a paid engine, included with Plus at $4.99 a month. It runs on this page for free without an account so you can see it first. The free tier includes six 2D engines at 720p with a small watermark.

AUDIO-REACTIVE VISUAL · UPDATED 2026-08-14

Menger Sponge Visualizer

Name: Vortexia
Author: Yousef @ Vortexia

An endless cubic lattice you can fly through, live

An infinite Menger sponge lattice raymarched live in your browser, reacting to your music. No install. Measured at 5.56 ms per frame at 720p. Add it to OBS as a single browser source.

Open the dashboard · Watch it live · All presets · Pricing

What is Menger Sponge Visualizer?

Vortexia renders the Menger sponge — the cube that is repeatedly subdivided and hollowed until it has infinite surface area and zero volume — live in your browser using WebGL2 raymarching. Rather than showing a single floating cube, Vortexia uses the folded, space-repeating form of the estimator, so the lattice extends indefinitely in every direction and the camera flies through a cathedral-like corridor of square voids. That architectural, mechanical look is what distinguishes it from the organic Mandelbulb, and it suits techno, industrial and hard-dance sets in particular. Measured on a real GPU it costs 5.56 ms per frame at 720p and 11.31 ms at 1080p, so Vortexia caps 3D engines at 720p to protect your game framerate. The estimator itself is cheap by fractal standards because it uses only absolute values, sorting and scaling with no trigonometry, which is why it sustains a high step count. The 3D engines require a paid plan (Plus, $4.99/month); the free tier includes the six 2D engines at 720p.

How to use Menger Sponge Visualizer

Watch it move. The canvas above is the live engine. Enable audio and the lattice will breathe with your music.
Add it to OBS. With a Plus plan, open the dashboard, choose the Menger Temple preset, copy your viewer URL and paste it into an OBS Browser Source at 1280x720.
Use it as a transition backdrop. The corridor works well behind Starting Soon and BRB scenes, where its slow forward motion fills dead air without competing for attention.

Specs & output

Engine	Chaos Prime
Render Mode	menger
Iteration Depth	90
Default Zoom	1.00
Colour Shift	190°
Output (Free)	720p / 30fps + watermark
Output (Plus)	1080p / 60fps, no watermark
Output (Pro)	4K / 60fps, brand-kit logo overlay
Audio Source	Browser tab audio (FFT, real-time)
Last Updated	2026-08-14

Frequently asked questions

What is the Menger sponge?: Take a cube, divide it into 27 smaller cubes, and remove the centre cube of each face plus the one in the middle. Repeat on the 20 that remain, forever. Karl Menger described it in 1926. In the limit it has infinite surface area and zero volume, and its Hausdorff dimension is about 2.727 — more than a surface, less than a solid.
Why does it fill the whole frame instead of showing one cube?: Vortexia uses the space-folding form of the distance estimator, which repeats the structure infinitely rather than bounding it. The effect is being inside an endless lattice rather than looking at an object, which reads as an architectural corridor. That is deliberate, and it is where the preset name Menger Temple comes from.
Why is its estimator cheaper than the Mandelbulb one?: It uses only absolute values, component sorting and scaling. The Mandelbulb needs acos, atan, sin, cos and pow on every iteration, and transcendental functions are expensive on a GPU. The Menger still measures slightly slower overall (5.56 ms versus 3.25 ms at 720p) because its lattice fills far more of the frame with surface, so more rays actually hit something.
Does it react to music?: Yes. The 128-bin spectrum drives the camera and the colour: bass shifts elevation, treble affects saturation and the chromatic fringe. Because the lattice surrounds the camera, bass movement reads as the corridor breathing around you.
Is it free?: The Menger sponge is a paid engine, included with Plus at $4.99 a month. It runs on this page for free without an account so you can see it first. The free tier includes six 2D engines at 720p with a small watermark.

About the author

Yousef @ Vortexia — Vortexia Engine Creator.

Yousef builds Vortexia — a browser-based, GPU-accelerated audio-reactive visual engine used by streamers and DJs on Twitch, Kick, YouTube Live and TikTok Live.