Byte Technology offers parallax scrolling — a web design tool that brings depth and
drama to the visual experience of a web page. Last week Awwwards.com posted a
list of sites that use parallax scrolling on their website. This design technology varies
the rate of scrolling and displays pictures from different angles, tricking the eye into
seeing three dimensions on a two-dimensional computer screen. Parallax scrolling
layers several backgrounds images, one on top of the other. The end effect for the
viewer is sense of visual depth and movement, like watching a movie camera pan
across the screen.
Parallax technology has been used in video games and other visual media for many
years, but it is being utilized more and more for web design and applications. Even
Google Maps added parallax features to its interface, called MapsGL. (This is still
in beta.) After zooming in far enough, you can move a compass around to view the
terrain from a 45-degree angle.
