Slashdot Log In
Modern Methods For Sharing Innovation
Posted by
Soulskill
on Sun Oct 26, 2008 09:34 AM
from the let's-see-what-you've-got dept.
from the let's-see-what-you've-got dept.
The New York Times is running a story about Johnny Chung Lee, a hardware hacker made famous for his projects which modified the Nintendo Wiimote to do things like positional head tracking and multi-touch display control. The article focuses on the suggestion that Lee's use of YouTube to demonstrate his innovations has done a better job of communicating his ideas than more traditional methods could. Quoting:
"He might have published a paper that only a few dozen specialists would have read. A talk at a conference would have brought a slightly larger audience. In either case, it would have taken months for his ideas to reach others. Small wonder, then, that he maintains that posting to YouTube has been an essential part of his success as an inventor. 'Sharing an idea the right way is just as important as doing the work itself,' he says. 'If you create something but nobody knows, it's as if it never happened.'"
Related Stories
[+]
Wiimote as Multi-Touch Display Controller 107 comments
Tmack writes "While hard-hacks with the Wiimote are somewhat old news, this particular implementation is quite interesting. Using the infrared camera on the Wiimote, pens with LEDs instead of ink, and an LCD projector, Johnny Chung Lee of Carnegie Mellon University has created software to use them as a (relatively) cheap multi-touch display. Any surface onto which you can project becomes an interactive multi-touch display, as demonstrated in the video at the link. He has the software available for download, along with some other neat projects.
Lee has also documented another impressive Wiimote hack.
[+]
Head Tracking w/ the Wiimote 169 comments
mrneutron2003 writes "This guy just doesn't know when to stop. Johnny Chung Lee graces us with yet another one of his inventive Wiimote projects. This time it involves using the Wiimote and a pair of inexpensive LED safety goggles (with the standard LED's replaced with InfraRed ones) to allow positional head tracking , achieving an effect similar to what is experienced with three dimensional displays and CAVE systems. The video dramatically illustrates the effect. Game developers take note. This simple little variation on infrared tracking could allow for some seriously immersive gameplay in the future." This guy deserves a medal.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading... please wait.
I just go outside.. (Score:3, Funny)
And yell, loudly. Eventually, people start running from everywhere, the police show up, etc, just to see what I'm yelling about. Then after that, I know the people who heard me yelling talk about it for weeks.
But Youtube will still be blocked anyway at work (Score:5, Insightful)
As someone who works in R&D I can absolutely agree.
I stumbled across his valuable work in my own time though, since the Government of Canada blocks Youtube and other blog/social networking sites. Until workplaces and institutions relax/modernise internet policy usage, we won't be seeing the full benefit of these new methods of communication.
Re:But Youtube will still be blocked anyway at wor (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Doesn't work as nicely as it does in private industry - the policy makers are not scientifically inclined and only display a token interest the opinions of those beneath them.
I daresay (because I've been out of it directly for the last 6 years) that private industry has already found a balance between the productive and non-productive usage of things like YouTube.
A waste of bandwidth (Score:3, Interesting)
Where I work, YouTube is blocked and rightly so. A true scientist has more effective communication methods than videos. That's why *writing* was invented in the first place. A set of abstract symbols is perfect for sending through ideas and findings.
I think it's a sad side effect of computers and the internet that people are forgetting how to write effectively, using icons and videos instead of clearly structured and written text.
Now get off my lawn.
Re: (Score:2)
Just take 30 seconds of time and bandwidth, by viewing this starting half-way through from 2:30-3:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw [youtube.com]
Now tell me that those 30 seconds don't convey more via video than could be conveyed through 30 seconds of reading abstract symbols.
Every tool can be misused, and video is not a perfect tool for many tasks. But to slate all of YouTube because it can be used frivolously is dangerously short sighted.
"deep linking" in youtube videos (Score:4, Informative)
Just take 30 seconds of time and bandwidth, by viewing this starting half-way through from 2:30-3:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw [youtube.com]
Now tell me that those 30 seconds don't convey more via video than could be conveyed through 30 seconds of reading abstract symbols.
Fun fact: YouTube now lets you link to a specific time in a video, by added a time-index anchor at the end of the URL. For example, add #t=2m30 [youtube.com] to the link you just posted.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
That's pretty awesome, thanks for the tip.
Re: (Score:2)
That may have been tongue-in-cheek, but i'll bite anyways. In this case even if the first medium would have been paper, you'd still have heard of it through a video. Those particular demonstrations work much better this way then in print. Imagine what you would have thought reading an article about someone modding a wii remote. Boring, eh?
Re:But Youtube will still be blocked anyway at wor (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm content to let the old guard (literally) die off. It wasn't too long ago that email was the office bogeyman and considered a novelty - until legitimate business uses were consistently made of it.
It's the same story - if your workers are abusing a technology then your problem is with your workers - or rather your management of those workers - not the technology.
Management is usually last to point the finger of blame at itself, which is precisely why we continually see technology scapegoated.
Filtering con
Re: (Score:2)
Not really, as it would require other people to judge what is relevant to the particular scientific area I'm currently researching, and hopefully place it upon ScienceTube.
An employer who trusted their employees to actually work and not to go all giddy over pictures of puppies wearing hats, would solve the problem more efficiently.
Because of the Internet, everyone's an expert... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Because of the Internet, everyone's an expert.. (Score:5, Insightful)
The innovation going on behind the scenes is trending to make the pay-per-view technical journals less relevant precisely because of their exclusionary nature which relies upon a monopoly on the accepted forms of professional communication.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Ever consider the concept of signal [nature.com] to noise [timecube.com]? Sure, you can find almost anything on the Internet if you look hard enough. Sometimes, I just want to find what I'm looking for, organized in a coherent fashion and perhaps backed up by some organization with a real telep
Re: (Score:2)
And Wikipedia.. that'll never work.
Re: (Score:2)
The Wikipedia is an enormously interesting experiment in human knowledge, but I think the death of paid subscription d
Re: (Score:2)
If I thought that Wikipedia were near the end of the scale of what we can achieve through collaborative information gathering and/or decision making, then I'd readily agree.
As Clay Shirky points out with regards our cognitive surplus, Wikipedia is just a drop in the ocean with regards our potential.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
If you never see it, it never happened (Score:3, Insightful)
And if they make me remember my registration, I'll never read their article.
a picture is worth a thousand words... (Score:2, Insightful)
Papers and seminars are useless (Score:5, Insightful)
Every paper I've read and every talk I've been to has been nearly useless for reproducing the results. The author/speaker always glosses over some crucial component as though it were common knowledge. "Here we used a 4th Order Adaptive Runge-Kutta solver to integrate the following equations for fluid dynamics." "Um, excuse me, but do you have any source code for that solver?" "That's left as an exercise to the reader." Last time I checked, professors would give you a much lower grade if you didn't show your work.
here, have mine (Score:3, Informative)
One RK4 solver, with easy explanations of the steps.
http://code.google.com/p/nmod/wiki/int3 [google.com]
Its not adaptive (I fail to see why adding adaptivity helps, and I have yet to see satisfactory proof that it does).
Re: (Score:2)
well, to be fair, if they had to hold your hand through the entire process it'd take a lot more time--since these are usually more complicated inventions than those in Dr. Lee's videos--and so fewer speakers would be able to share their research. i mean, they're seminars not workshops. scientific seminars usually aren't aimed at laymen audiences, so you're expected to have a certain level of knowledge and scientific background. that way speakers can just gloss over the nonessential steps that other research
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Indeed. One 20 minute talk is not enough time to give details about how to do even the most basic of lab procedures needed to replicate results in biology. In many studies, one year of lab experience is not enough.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
That said, my solution to this has been to include a url with all my relevant source code in the references section of all the papers I've publi
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Yup, I also try to include links to svn repositories with my papers these days.
THANK YOU THANK YOU HOLY SHIT THANK YOU! I can't tell you how many times I've wanted that when I was reading a paper. Everybody needs to do this if possible. YES.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Seminars are only to give you a taste of the topic. If you don't get what you need from a seminar, read the associated paper(s). If that isn't good enough, check over the supporting information. (At least in chemistry, many journals now allow supporting information with virtually no size limit, and including, as necessary, objects such as animation that can't be included in the printed journal.) And if that doesn't do the trick, get a copy of the corresponding thesis dissertation(s) (if there are any) or co
Cold fusion (Score:3, Funny)
I recall that cold fusion got so much notice by the scientists holding a press conference ... before publishing their paper.
Presumably the next pseudoscience snake oil innovation will be publicised in a YouTube video incorporating phone footage of a hilarious injury and the word "FAIL" in Impact Condensed, to the tune of "Still Alive".
Who Needs Traditional Peer Review? (Score:4, Interesting)
Who needs peer review when you got YouTube and the Internet? The entire world should be our peers, not just a small elitist group. Traditional peer review is mostly a censorship mechanism that is used to suppress minority opinions. It creates an incestuous situation whereby science becomes stuck in a rut of its own making from which only a Kuhnian revolution can extricate it. This is no good. The cross pollenization of ideas is essential to progress and should be welcome by all scientists. The writing is on the wall. The Internet will kill the old-style peer review system and I, for one, will not shed any tears. Just cast your idea upon the waters and see how it fares. If it's any good, it will grow. If not, it will die. That is the new trend. What could be better?
As a case in point, the Slashdot moderation mechanism is a prime example of an old-style peer review mechanism that is due for a serious revision. It allows a small group of regulars (with time on their hands) to change what others should perceive according to their perspective. Where is the freedom in that? We don't need chaperones, thank you very much. A private kill-file/rating system would be better, in my opinion.
OK. Now mod me down if you disagree and make my point for me.
Re:Who Needs Traditional Peer Review? (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, I want to be the judge of that. I refuse to let others make that decision for me. Freedom is the name of the game.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Of course Louis argues against traditional peer review and elitism. In his case it has worked well at keeping his own brand of psuedo-science away from respectable outlets. For those of you arguing against him - don't bother. Just google him and read some of the bizarre rants that he has come up with in the past. Then remember that peer review was designed to keep him, and those cranks like him, away from mainstream academia.
Re: (Score:2)
"A little elitism is a good thing. You don't want just people making judgments in fields that they know little to nothing about."
Your comment assumes that men (elite men) have the universal capacity to separate truth from it's illusions, this is not the case. Elitism actually stems from the enlightenment fallacy, about the nature of reasoning and truth.
(Quick version)
http://i35.tinypic.com/10fruxh.jpg [tinypic.com]
(Longer version)
http://www.linktv.org/video/2142 [linktv.org]
A few wise words from are good old friend Ibn...
"Therefore,
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Quote:
"The free, unhampered exchange of ideas and scientific conclusions is necessary for the sound development of science, as it is in all spheres of cultural life. ... We must not conceal from ourselves that no improvement in the present depressing situation is possible without a severe struggle; for the handful of those who are really determined to do something is minute in comparison with the mass of the lukewarm and the misguided. ...
Humanity is going to need a substantially new way of thinking if it i
Re: (Score:2)
Traditional peer review is mostly a censorship mechanism that is used to suppress minority opinions
This is not entirely fair. Before the Internet, information was difficult to search through, and the expense to the creator of putting information out there was higher, but nowhere near as high as the expense to readers (look up the cost of some of the better-respected scientific journals these days). In such an environment, you want a filter to keep crap out.
The Internet marries nearly-free publishing to ne
Re: (Score:2)
I lean towards agreeing with you regarding the future of peer review in science, but, regarding Slashdot's moderation system, quitcherbitchen'.
I read at +3 (unless I'm moderating or happen to catch a story before there's about 100 comments) because I don't want to read all the crazy bullshit that gets posted to this site. Notice that I read at +3 because I choose not to read the bullshit, not because some invisible hand of censorship has taken away my right to wallow in it. If you want to read everything,
Re: (Score:2)
Who's forcing you? Read at -1 or read through the RSS feed and pass it through your killfile at your leisure. I agree that freedom is important. I disagree that any freedom is "missing" or being infringed here. You're free to read Slashdot (assuming you are free--I suppose some people aren't free to read Slashdot) and you're free to make use of the moderation system or not, accor
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps. I interpreted your cry for more freedom as an expression of feeling oppressed. I suppose there's a gray area between the black and white here and maybe I misinterpreted your position. You originally said "[the moderation system] allows a small group of regulars (with time on their hands) to change what others should perceive according to their perspective. Where is the freedom in that?" [slashdot.org] and it's that that I
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
We dont need a paper to determine if something is possible. Instead, you do it and document what you did to get to that point.
You dont need sources upon sources upon papers upon esteemed colleagues. All you need is your wits, know-how and elbow grease.
Im thinking about that Australian who designed a 1 million/min electrically fired gun, the Wiimote, Linux, and other hardware.
Light my fire. (Score:2)
Johnny Chung Lee:"'If you create something but nobody knows, it's as if it never happened.'"
Jefferson:"If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it. Its peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses
Rule 32 (Score:2)
Pics, or it didn't happen.
One of the (many) problems of the current patent system is; there is not actual requirement to demonstrate that your idea works to receive a patent. Another is that many of the patents do ant adequately describe an innovation so that another skilled person can implement it.
The beauty of a YouTube video is that the first problem is addressed in that a working demonstration is available for all to see. The second issue is delt with in that if you've figured out how to actually make
He's right, you know ... (Score:2)
'Sharing an idea the right way is just as important as doing the work itself,' he says. 'If you create something but nobody knows, it's as if it never happened.'"
Just ask Leonardo da Vinci.