Amazing Whiteboard!

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2006-10-05 08:52am

Max · Post by **Max** » 2006-10-05 10:18am

That's actually pretty frickin sweet!

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2006-10-05 10:52am

Oh, it's just a SMART Board. (or something similar)

We have several of those at the high school I work at. It's basically just a board with a bunch of sensors imbedded in it, and a projector throws an image on it. You run a calibration program where it has you touch certain points on the display, which allows it to figure out how the display is positioned on the board.

They're pretty nifty.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-10-05 11:15am

Uraniun235 wrote:Oh, it's just a SMART Board. (or something similar)

We have several of those at the high school I work at. It's basically just a board with a bunch of sensors imbedded in it, and a projector throws an image on it. You run a calibration program where it has you touch certain points on the display, which allows it to figure out how the display is positioned on the board.

They're pretty nifty.

Can they also interpret what's on the screen and run the simulations like in the video?

I really get a DS vibe from that. It's like Pac-pix for engineers or something

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2006-10-05 11:20am

We have 'em at my college as well

LaserRifleofDoom · Post by **LaserRifleofDoom** » 2006-10-05 02:26pm

No. What he was showing as special wasn't the board itself, but the program for "simple mechanical devices." SMART boards are nothing special. That fancy program is something I've never seen a teacher use with any smart board.

Awesome stuff.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2006-10-05 02:35pm

That looks more fun than any video game.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2006-10-05 02:51pm

Pff. If you can't teach effectively with a blackboard and an overhead projector, you can't teach at all. Those things cost a ton of money better spent elsewhere.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2006-10-05 04:19pm

The special thing that this software combines several things which have been around for a while.

The interface: Draw stuff and interact with it by drawing different symbols in it like deleting things by crossing them out, or making an object unaffected by the physics. We know this from games such as Black and White or this new game with the wolf, Okami, i think.

Then there´s the aspect that this software has an integrated physics engine which we know from lots of programs like games and 3d software.

You can define certain objects to behave in a certain way, like making the wheels spin around axels which we also know from a whole bunch of grafic programs.

I don´t really see how this would profit an engeneer but is can imagine that it can be whole lot of fun if this was made into a toy.

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2006-10-05 10:33pm

Actually, something like this would be VERY useful for physics instructors. Anything to help them get the point across would be very welcome in their eyes I bet.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-10-05 11:04pm

I hate to say it, but I don't like this for Physics 101/highschool classes. It's a neat toy and all, but you have to show kids that mechanics work in the real world and that anyone can see them with everyday objects.

Red's right, use normal tools, with basic computers for some higher-grade analysis tools for labs as needed. However, I would request an upgrade from a blackboard to a whiteboard. Chalk just gets nasty after a while.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2006-10-05 11:52pm

RedImperator wrote:Pff. If you can't teach effectively with a blackboard and an overhead projector, you can't teach at all. Those things cost a ton of money better spent elsewhere.

The math teachers love 'em. I think they manipulate graphs in real-time with the things. Or something. I don't know. I just get called in when the damn things don't work. (I never get to play with them. *sulk*) The health teachers also love them although I think they just love being able to throw up whatever damn thing they find on the Internet.

Know what's even more ludicrous? The principal deciding that the projectors for these things just have to be mounted on the ceiling. I think the ceiling mounts, after all was said and done, cost more than the projectors themselves.

All I know is one day those bulbs will start burning out (especially seeing as they do get used fairly heavily) and it's going to start costing money to keep those things running.

A computer projector can be a very handy tool. It can also be a deadly trap: I remember a Microbiology course in college where the lecture basically consisted of "come in and watch this Powerpoint slideshow which I've not only printed out for your convenience but made available on the Web".

(But then, that starts to stray into the topic of "we ought to ban certain people from PowerPoint because they cannot use it properly")