12 / COLLABORATION
Cursor Interpolation
The problem
Remote cursors jump between positions in jerky steps, making collaborators feel robotic and laggy.
The solution
Interpolate between received positions for smooth motion.
Experiment
Task: Move your cursor and compare raw vs interpolated remote cursor.
NAIVE
NAIVE — raw packets
remote
packets0
interval200ms
THOUGHTFUL
THOUGHTFUL — interpolated
remote
packets0
interval200ms
Play with the values
200ms
0.85
30ms
50ms
How it works
Seen in
Collaborative editors
Teammate cursors glide smoothly between network updates instead of jumping.
Design tools
Remote pointers interpolate between packets so co-editing feels live and human.
Whiteboards
Participant cursors move fluidly across the canvas despite network latency.
Multiplayer apps
Shared pointer positions are rendered as continuous motion from discrete server ticks.