Welcome to Hippo

Hippo is an advanced ambient audio generator designed to aid focus, relaxation, and creative thinking. Unlike standard music players that loop recorded tracks, Hippo generates unique audio in real time using mathematical algorithms. This means the soundscape never truly repeats itself, keeping your brain engaged without becoming predictable.

The application runs entirely offline within your browser. This ensures complete privacy. No data is sent to cloud servers, no artificial intelligence models track your usage, and no accounts are required. It is an ethical and private tool for your mental wellbeing.

Getting Started

When you launch Hippo, you are greeted with the setup screen. Here you can customise the experience before the audio begins.

  • Timer Selection: Choose a specific duration for your session, ranging from one minute to two hours, or enter a custom time. Alternatively, select Indefinite for continuous playback.
  • Visualiser Style: Choose from dynamic generative backgrounds including Nebula, Borealis, Stardust, Sea Waves, Sunset, and Forest. You can also turn visuals off to save battery power.
  • Themes: Select Dark Mode, Light Mode, or High Contrast for visual comfort.
  • Accessibility Mode: A toggle that significantly increases the size of all buttons and text for easier operation.
  • Keep Screen Awake: Prevents your device screen from turning off or going to sleep while the application is active.

The Audio Controls

The main performance screen features a circular layout with controls at the four compass points. You can mix and match these sounds to create your perfect environment. Each element plays generated sequences rather than static loops.

North: Nature

Background textures to ground your hearing.

  • Rain: A consistent digital rainfall.
  • Forest, Farm, Village: Dynamic environments with random natural elements.
  • Sea Options: Choose from Gentle rolling waves, Gulls for a beach atmosphere, or Storm for thunder and heavy wind.

South: Voices

Sustained drones and atmospheric pads.

  • Choir and Sine: Pure and harmonic tones.
  • Spooky: A haunting and detuned texture.
  • Sitar Drone: A metallic Indian drone.
  • Phaser Sweep: A noise texture that smoothly sweeps across the frequency spectrum.

West: Bells

Chimes that play musical sequences on organic timings.

  • Glass, Wood, FM: Synthetic materials and tones.
  • Church Bell: A deep and heavy resonant tone.
  • Ship Bell: A bright maritime double strike.
  • Tinkle: High pitched delicate wind chimes.

East: Plucks

Rhythmic string instruments.

  • Harp, Koto, Banjo: Traditional string sounds.
  • Fuzz Guitar: A warm and distorted tone.
  • Sitar: A resonant and buzzing pluck.

Effects and Chaos Pad

The centre of the screen acts as an interactive Effects Pad. You can drag your finger or mouse across this area to change the acoustic space in real time.

  • Drag Left and Right: Controls Reverb. Moving right increases the size of the room, making it sound like a massive cathedral.
  • Drag Up and Down: Controls Echo. Moving down increases the feedback delay, creating rhythmic repeats.

There is also a Master Volume slider at the top of the screen to smoothly control the overall output level.

Recommended Scenarios

Hippo is highly versatile. Try these specific configurations to assist with different daily activities.

Pomodoro Timer for Study

Ideal for deep work sessions using the Pomodoro technique to maintain focus without distraction.

  • Timer: Set to twenty five or fifty minutes.
  • Nature: Rain. This effectively masks distracting background office or household noises.
  • Voices: Drone on a low volume.
  • Bells and Plucks: Turn volume to zero to avoid melody distraction.
  • Tip: When the timer hits zero, a gentle harp arpeggio will play automatically to signal your break time.

Focus Aid During Exercise

A steady and non intrusive rhythm for running or endurance training.

  • Nature: Wind. This matches the physical feeling of movement.
  • Plucks: Synth or Fuzz Guitar to provide a driving rhythmic pulse.
  • Bells: Ship Bell.
  • Tip: Press the Shuffle button every few miles to change the musical scale and refresh your energy.

Aid to Meditation

A rich and spiritual texture for contemplation and breathing exercises.

  • Nature: Forest or Village.
  • Voices: Sitar Drone.
  • Plucks: Sitar or Koto.
  • Bells: Church Bell. The deep tone is highly grounding.
  • Visualiser: Sunset to provide a calm focal point.

Managing Anxiety or Overwhelm

Designed to lower your heart rate and provide a safe sensory space.

  • Nature: Sea Gentle. The slow and deep rolling waves encourage slower breathing.
  • Voices: Sine or Choir.
  • Effects Pad: Drag to the bottom right for maximum Reverb and Echo to wash out sharp details into a smooth blur.
  • Visualiser: Forest or Sea Waves to visually ground you.

Aid to Sleep and Relaxation

A dark and quiet setup to help you drift off naturally.

  • Timer: Set to sixty minutes so the audio gently fades away after you sleep.
  • Nature: Sea Gentle.
  • Plucks and Bells: Turn volume completely down.
  • Visualiser: Turn to Off to keep the room entirely dark.
  • Screen: Ensure Keep Screen Awake is turned off.

Brainstorming and Projects

Keeps the brain stimulated and creative while you actively think or plan.

  • Nature: Farm or Village.
  • Voices: Phaser Sweep to provide a sense of forward momentum.
  • Plucks: Koto or Banjo.

Reading and Proofreading

A quiet and consistent environment to help absorb written information.

  • Nature: Wind or Rain on medium volume.
  • Bells: Soft FM on low volume.
  • Master Volume: Keep the overall level low so it remains strictly in the background.

Accessibility Features

Hippo is built to be inclusive and entirely operable without a mouse.

  • Keyboard Navigation: Use the Tab key to move through all controls. Press Enter or Space to activate buttons.
  • Effects Pad Keyboard Control: When you tab to the central Effects Pad, you can use your computer Arrow Keys Up, Down, Left, and Right to smoothly adjust the Reverb and Echo amounts.
  • Screen Reader Support: Every control has an invisible label. Action updates, such as pausing the track or changing effects via the keyboard, are announced automatically through your screen reader.
  • Hide Interface: If you find the controls visually distracting, press the eye icon button in the bottom corner. The controls will disappear from the screen and from the keyboard focus order, leaving only the visuals. The interactive screen pad remains active for touch or mouse dragging.
  • Visual Adjustments: Use the top toolbar at any time to switch to a High Contrast theme, increase the text size, or activate a dyslexia friendly font.

Troubleshooting and Performance

Because Hippo generates complex audio and visuals mathematically in real time, older devices might sometimes struggle. Here is how to get the best out of the application.

  • Audio crackling or stuttering: This usually means your device processor is working too hard. The quickest fix is to change the Visualiser setting to Off. Audio processing takes priority, but turning off graphics frees up significant power.
  • Battery draining fast: The visualisers use battery power. Turn the Visualiser to Off and uncheck the Keep Screen Awake option to maximise battery life.
  • Audio stops unexpectedly: Many mobile phones halt browser audio when the screen turns off. Ensure you select Keep Screen Awake on the start screen before you begin.
  • General sluggishness: Close other intensive browser tabs and applications to free up memory for the audio engine.