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Show HN: A whiteboard that writes math equations
- renerick 2y agoFun project, although it does seem to struggle with writing the longer it goes https://imgur.com/TntAViO https://imgur.com/TntAViO
- Ilasky 2y agoI was inspired by https://calligrapher.ai https://calligrapher.ai to see if I can make something that looks similar to it, but for math. I ended up hooking up an LLM on the backend to solve math problems as well. This ended up being more of an exploration in trying to make alternative outputs for LLMs that are a little more dynamic than just text and/or LaTeX.
- gus_massa 2y agoIt looks almost like my handwriting :). It's interesting that each time it shows a different variant. Anyway, when I press "get the derivative of f(x)=x^2" I get 2-1 f'(x) = 2 x but the 1 is too big. (Do you need a screenshot?)
- Ilasky 2y agoUsing a variety of hand-written inputs, so font variation would be present. If you could give a screenshot, that’d be helpful!
- gus_massa 2y agoI run it again and got this: https://imgur.com/a/3t1Xvtg https://imgur.com/a/3t1Xvtg I added labels to show the problem (but they are too small) and I used Paint to create a fake version where the 1 has the size I'd like.
- langcss 2y agoI asked it to prove Fermats Last Theorem and it started writing (some nonsense) into the margin. Which was funnny. Cool project tho
- Ilasky 2y agoUnlike Fermat, the whiteboard has enough room in the margin :)
- InDubioProRubio 2y agoHNug of Death atm, but cool idea. Could benefit from a tutorial mode, where you click on a symbol, it explains its function via whiteboard tutorial from youtube - in the whiteboard..
- Ilasky 2y agoShould be back up!
- kleiba 2y agoA bit too sloppy and a bit too slow for my taste, but otherwise great!
- jpl56 2y agoNice tool! I like the human like handwriting, but I'd prefer a more adult one. Writing the denominator first looks weird to me, same as writing the square root symbol after what's under it.
- Ilasky 2y agoAgreed the ordering is a bit weird. Working on figuring out a way to adjust that. Thanks for the feedback!
- xenonite 2y agoAlso I would expect that the letters are consistent. Not necessarily legible, but always quite the same.
- sieste 2y agoagreed. I'm not sure what the constraints are regarding the font and its animation, but generally it's possible to look "human", and be elegant and legible at the same time.
- lupire 2y agoWriting the radical sign last is a sign of sophistication of maturity.
- nextcaller 2y agoYeah https://i.imgur.com/DvcFRe7.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/DvcFRe7.jpeg
- flareback 2y agoLooks like my 5 year old's handwriting. Sometimes I actually have no idea what it was writing. Plus the text was overlapping at times
- bee_rider 2y agoIt looks like the handwriting of a 5 year old or a software engineer
- haskman 2y agoTried "what is (x-2-1)/(x-1)?" and got absolute gibberish in return
- Ilasky 2y agoDo you have a screenshot of what you got? Or can you describe it? I just tried it and it gave the correct answer.
- tempfile 2y agoWhy does it write like it's having a stroke?
- alex95 2y ago[dead]
- donq1xote1 2y agoThis sounds very interesting! I will check it out.
- mdrzn 2y agoVery cool project!
- p0w3n3d 2y agoIt solved `(x^2-1)/(x-1)` to `x+1` but it is not equal. It should be specified that `x` must not be equal 1 in this case.
- filipeisho 2y agoWhat are you using to make handwritten text? Is it a model?
- hardlianotion 2y agoVery cool. Could do with training on some decent handwriting
- pimlottc 2y agoAgree, at times it is so sloppy that it’s not clear what’s being written.
- singlow 2y agoYes - it's fun that its a bit messy, but it also seems to write the same letter in very different ways in the same session. It should at least use consistent patterns for writing each letter even if their are minor variations to make it look more real.
- lanstin 2y agoWow, it can do ODEs. Pretty awesome.
- loxias 2y agoThis is really fun. Multiple questions seem to yield a blank page, does this mean it's hugged to death, or are my questions too difficult? :) I'm enjoying probing the bounds of understanding by giving progressively harder problems. It found the roots of a cubic, and proved sqrt(2) and pi were irrational. Too difficult to read the handwriting, and I'm curious about "how it works". All in all, a fantastic demo.
- lionkor 2y agoThe handwriting really goes out of the window with a query like > what is the derivative of e^-x? It does a good job, but man is it hard to read
- viveknathani_ 2y agothis is extremely cool and useful.
- dzink 2y agoIt looks like it was trained on someone's years of teaching math to kids and a collection of all of the handwriting they've done. Looks like, but not sure if it is.
- zamadatix 2y agoFor anyone trying this on desktop if you make the window tiny the boldness, spacing, and overall readability becomes waaay better than when you have a large window.
- insane_dreamer 2y agomath prof handwriting checks out ;)
- withinrafael 2y agoI asked it to "provide a summary of Beetlejuice using purely numbers and addition" (nonsense) and it provided an answer that led to infinity. Now I'm wondering if I missed an interpretation in my many viewings of the film.
- philshem 2y agoI asked “what is the circumference of a square?” and it started tripping and then I asked again and it gave me something less trippy “P=4s”. In between it answer correctly for the circumference of a circle.
- samschooler 2y agoHere is the raw answer from the endpoint ./solve "what is the circumference of a square?" Solution: I'm sorry, but there seems to be a misunderstanding in the question. Squares don't have a circumference; they have a perimeter. Circumference is a term used for circular shapes. Let me explain the difference: 1. For a square, we use the term 'perimeter' to describe the distance around its outer edge. 2. The perimeter of a square is calculated by adding up the lengths of all four sides. \text{Perimeter of a square} = 4s 3. Where 's' is the length of one side of the square. 4. Circumference, on the other hand, is used for circular shapes like circles or ellipses. 5. The circumference of a circle is calculated using the formula: \text{Circumference of a circle} = 2\pi r Where 'r' is the radius of the circle. I hope this clarifies the difference between perimeter (for squares) and circumference (for circles)!
- samschooler 2y ago./solve "How tall is a giraffe in ants" Solution: I'm sorry, but this isn't a typical math problem. The height of a giraffe can't be accurately measured in ants, as ant sizes vary greatly between species. Instead, I can provide you with some interesting facts: 1. An average adult giraffe is about 16-18 feet (4.8-5.5 meters) tall. 2. The average size of an ant ranges from 0.08 to 1 inch (2-25 mm). 3. If we were to use the largest ant size for a very rough estimate, a giraffe could be about 192-216 ant lengths tall. However, this is not a standard or accurate measurement.
- godelski 2y agoI asked for the number of ways to get a royal flush given an ace and King in your hand. It told me 4
- ThefinalResult 2y agoI wrote: Write the gamma function and explain it's relationship to erfi I got: Nothing
- samschooler 2y agoMade a lil script to compare the endpoint response vs the whiteboard. https://gist.github.com/samschooler/2b2831f232339a9d747934b71299d9e5 https://gist.github.com/samschooler/2b2831f232339a9d747934b7... Just run: #./solve.js "What is the answer to life, the universe, everything?"
- jv22222 2y agoIMHO the writing animation should run about 4x that speed.
- Solopreneur427 2y agoIts really cool how (talking about learning) we go from hand to technology, to again hand