3D Lotus Effect Simulator — Cassie–Baxter Droplet on Nanopillars

This is the same real physics as the 2D cross-section, rebuilt as a 3D scene you can orbit around: an InstancedMesh field of micro-pillars carries a droplet modeled as a genuine spherical-cap mesh, generated frame-to-frame from the live Cassie–Baxter contact angle rather than a flattened sprite. Trimming the solid fraction shrinks how much pillar area the droplet actually touches, widening the visible air gaps beneath it and pushing the apparent contact angle toward the superhydrophobic regime the lotus leaf itself exploits. Toggling to the Wenzel state lets the same droplet sink and wet every groove instead, so you can watch, from any angle, exactly why trapped air — not roughness alone — is what keeps the surface dry.