Ray Optics Simulation — The Complete Guide: Light Ray Simulation in the Browser
Ray Optics Simulation is an open-source browser app for 2D geometric optics. You place light sources, lenses, mirrors, prisms and surfaces on a canvas — and the rays are drawn instantly. Drag a component and the picture updates.
Ray Optics Simulation
Ray Optics Simulation Project
Light ray simulation in the browser — lenses, mirrors and optical fibres.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- A component library — lenses, mirrors, prisms, blockers and free-form surfaces.
- Refraction and reflection — including total internal reflection.
- Dispersion — wavelength-dependent refraction.
- Focal points and aberration — see where rays converge and where they do not.
- Sharing by link — save a scene and send it, with no installation.
What it is not
It is not a professional optical design tool: the simulation is 2D, with no optimisation, tolerancing or wave optics. Dedicated packages exist for designing lenses for manufacture. But for understanding a system, testing an idea in lighting or optical sensing, or explaining a principle in class, it is the fastest route there is.
Related tools
For browser circuit simulation in the same spirit — Falstad Circuit. For your own calculations and plots — Python or JupyterLab.
Falstad Circuit Simulator
Paul Falstad
An interactive circuit simulator that runs in the browser, with animated current.
Get it from the vendor
Python
Python Software Foundation
The language behind most modern engineering computation, and its full ecosystem.
Get it from the vendor
JupyterLab
Project Jupyter
Interactive computing notebooks — code, results, plots and explanations in one shareable document.
Get it from the vendor
Radiance
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Physically accurate daylight and lighting simulation — the basis for green building light calculations.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
Ray Optics Simulation turns geometric optics into something you can see and play with — free, instant and excellent for teaching and testing ideas.