Orb Bot
two spider-orb robots loose in a night workshop

What you see on every new tab

Orb Bot puts two six-armed spider-orb robots in a dim robotics lab after hours. Each is a full character with its own gait, mood and personality; on top sits a social layer that turns them into a double act.

• The workshop: a pipe grid on the ceiling to climb and swing from, steel columns, a workbench with a monitor they can zap into static, a swaying work-lamp, crates and a fire extinguisher to knock over.
• Duets: tag, sneak-and-poke, ball passing, team-rolling the drum, high-fives on the floor and from the chain, synchronized swings, show-off flips with an audience, dance duets, ball races.
• Grudges: pokes, stolen balls and stray lasers fill a grudge meter that turns into face-offs, shoving matches and laser standoffs.

Nothing is a video. The scene is generated live on your graphics card with WebGL, so it never loops and never looks the same twice.

What it reacts to

• Mouse: they notice the cursor, track it, and sometimes come over to investigate.
• Music: the beat sets their tempo when music sync is on.
• Night: the lab dims further after dusk, following the sun at your location.

Free or Pro?Pro

Ambient New Tab is free to install, with three free themes. Orb Bot is a Pro theme. Pro is a one-time $19 purchase, no subscription, and it unlocks every Pro theme, music sync, and every theme we release in the future. You can preview Orb Bot full screen before you buy: open the Themes panel and rest your mouse on it. Changed your mind? 14-day refund, no questions.

How to get it

1. Add Ambient New Tab to Chrome (or Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi, Opera).
2. Open a new tab and click the Themes pill in the bottom-right corner.
3. Pick Orb Bot. Done.

Questions

Are they the same every time?

No. Both bots run a mood brain and a social layer that picks new duets and squabbles as they go, so each tab is a fresh few minutes in the lab.

Is Orb Bot free?

It is a Pro theme. Pro is a one-time $19 purchase, no subscription, that unlocks every Pro theme, music sync, and every future theme.

Is it busy?

It is one of the livelier themes. If you want something calmer behind your search box, try Marble or Nebula Drift.

Does it work on my phone?

No. It's a desktop browser extension for Chrome and Edge on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS. If you're reading this on a phone, send yourself the link.

More themes

See every theme →