The incredibly lifelike computer simulations of snow and water seen in effects-heavy Hollywood blockbusters — and even video games — require a significant amount of computing power. It’s not uncommon for a single frame of a movie to require days to render, and these days visual effect studios have more computing power than NASA. But Yusuke Endoh has created a slightly cruder text-based fluid simulation that requires far less hardware.
These simulations are light years from what you’ll see at the movies, but are no less impressive given even a semi-capable calculator could handle them. And it ensures that future attempts at converting full-length movies into ASCII art will be all the more realistic. [YouTube via The Awesomer]