Backgrounds and scenes

The backdrop is the visual field the client sees behind the moving stimulus. A black canvas behind a dot is the EMDR-hardware-kit convention, but a gradient or photo backdrop can soften the visual context for clients who find pure black sterile or activating. Rivet offers 16 options — 8 gradients and 8 photo backdrops. Tap a thumbnail in the Configure modal to apply.

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Gradient scenes

Eight gradients rendered live on the canvas — no external network fetch, no asset download. Each is a calibrated CSS gradient applied as the canvas fill before the stimulus is drawn on top.

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Photo backdrops

Eight photo backdrops — high-resolution landscape photography hot-linked from Unsplash, all with safe Referrer-Policy: no-referrer so the source host sees no originating URL. If a photo backdrop fails to load for any reason (offline, slow network, host change), it falls back to a comparable gradient — Forest+ falls back to Forest, Ocean+ to Ocean, Sky to gradient_indigo, and so on. Your client never sees a broken-image state.

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Choosing a backdrop

There’s no clinical-evidence ranking for backdrop choice — the decision is about client comfort and avoiding visual interference with the stimulus. A few orienting notes: Reach for None / Void / Dark when:

• Following the Shapiro Classic protocol (the default Classic backdrop is None — lets the video feed show through)
• The client has reported visual overwhelm or photophobia
• The client prefers minimal sensory input

Reach for a gradient when:

• The client finds black sterile or activating
• You want a soft visual context without specific imagery
• Indigo is the EMDR 2.0 default and a safe starting choice

Reach for a photo backdrop when:

• The client responds well to nature imagery
• The session is doing safe-place or resource-installation work and the imagery aligns with the resource (Forest for a calm-place anchored in woods, Ocean for water, Mountain for ground)
• You want a warmer, less geometric feel for a client who finds gradients too synthetic

Avoid photo backdrops when:

• The client has reported visual hypersensitivity
• The backdrop contrast with the stimulus is too low (a butterfly in indigo on a Sky backdrop can be harder to track than the same butterfly on Dark)

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How the backdrop renders

The backdrop fills the canvas behind the stimulus. The canvas itself scales to fill the client’s viewport on whatever device they’re on. The stimulus is drawn on top at the size you configured. If the photo backdrop is still loading, the canvas shows the matching fallback gradient until the photo arrives — usually inside the first second. You can change the backdrop mid-session by re-opening the Configure modal and tapping a different thumbnail. The change takes effect when you click Apply changes; the next set starts with the new backdrop.

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What backdrops aren’t

• Not videos. Photo backdrops are static. There is no panning or moving background.
• Not customizable. You can’t upload a custom backdrop. The 16 options are the full library.
• Not stored per client. The backdrop choice is part of your default BLS configuration — it carries from session to session as your preference, not the client’s. To change for a given client, change in the Configure modal for that session.

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Privacy note on the photo backdrops

Photo backdrops are hot-linked from Unsplash. When the client’s browser loads a backdrop, Unsplash’s CDN sees the client’s IP — same as any other image embedded on the web. Rivet sends a Referrer-Policy: no-referrer header so the originating URL (your Rivet session) is not sent to Unsplash. Unsplash sees a request from an IP, nothing else. If your practice prefers no third-party requests at all during a session, stick to the gradient scenes (None through Warm) — those render entirely from CSS with no external load.

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