Chromatophore Neural Control

An octopus doesn't change color by mixing pigments — it changes how much of each pigment sac is stretched open. This simulation renders a patch of skin as hundreds of individually driven chromatophore organs, each a tiny elastic sac pulled open by a ring of radial muscles under direct motor-neuron control, stacked in three pigment layers over a reflective iridophore base. Choose a neural drive pattern — a synchronized flash, a traveling "passing cloud" wave, independent random flicker, or a rapid startle strobe — set the drive amplitude and speed, and tune the asymmetric muscle time constants (fast contraction, slow passive relaxation) that give real octopus skin its instant-on, fade-out signature.