I saw the Utah Teapot at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View when I visited in late 2004. I didn't know it was there. I immediately started calling friends, while standing there in the "Visible Storage" exhibit gawking at it, telling each of them, breathlessly: "I'm looking at _the_ Utah teapot."
I was told later by a docent that my reaction was not uncommon. >smile<
I work at the University of Utah. They had an incredible graphics symposium a few years ago[0]. I got a render of the teapot signed by several of the speakers, which is a prized possession. There was another guy there with an actual replica teapot which he got signed. I was pretty jealous.
Sadly Alan Kay was unable to attend so I didn't get to meet him.
Tangential & graphics-related: there is a story where Jim Foley requested a pirated Eastern European copy of his text (… which heavily features the Utah teapot) as a souvenir.
He found it hilarious that every single equation in the pirated book were reverse images.
I saw the Utah Teapot at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View when I visited in late 2004. I didn't know it was there. I immediately started calling friends, while standing there in the "Visible Storage" exhibit gawking at it, telling each of them, breathlessly: "I'm looking at _the_ Utah teapot."
I was told later by a docent that my reaction was not uncommon. >smile<
I work at the University of Utah. They had an incredible graphics symposium a few years ago[0]. I got a render of the teapot signed by several of the speakers, which is a prized possession. There was another guy there with an actual replica teapot which he got signed. I was pretty jealous.
Sadly Alan Kay was unable to attend so I didn't get to meet him.
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui3R1Dlmsk0
Here is an old IBM research video on breaking the Utah teapot in 1989[1]
1. https://youtu.be/3NQuHpUyZbI?is=sjkQcadU6_IHjgr0
Related. Others?
The original Utah teapot(1.4L) is in stock - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31178947 - April 2022 (7 comments)
Why a Computer History Museum Owns a Legendary Teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29259548 - Nov 2021 (1 comment)
Show HN: Teapong – A two-player game for fans of Pong and the Utah teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22137758 - Jan 2020 (12 comments)
Bézier Curves and Surfaces: The Utah Teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19690575 - April 2019 (7 comments)
The Utah Teapot: Most Important Object in Computer Graphics History - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11209690 - March 2016 (52 comments)
Utah Teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7280289 - Feb 2014 (17 comments)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/327233836465
Tangential & graphics-related: there is a story where Jim Foley requested a pirated Eastern European copy of his text (… which heavily features the Utah teapot) as a souvenir.
He found it hilarious that every single equation in the pirated book were reverse images.
I first saw Utah Teapot in OpenGL:
https://www.opengl.org/resources/libraries/glut/spec3/node89...
Surprised to see the teapot got another update this year.
Anyone else getting a 418 error trying to access this site?
The Utah Teapot is filled with fry sauce.
The pelican on the bike seems like the new teapot.
The original pot is from Melitta [0]. The 3D model seems a bit squished down though.
[0] https://spectrum.ieee.org/behold-the-worlds-most-famous-teap...
Technically it's from Friesland, who had some sort of complex relationship with Melitta at the time (https://x.com/FrieslandPorzel/status/845221850900762625)
The "Wilhelm scream" of 3D.
I wonder the reasons for adding/removing the base rims over the years
I always knew about/used teapot in game engines and what not, but never knew the origin.
I guess they want to make their mark like Stanford dragon[0].
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_dragon
>I guess they want to make their mark like Stanford dragon
I'd say the Utah teapot is much better known in CG circles than the Stanford dragon.
It also predates it by over 20 years
The Stanford bunny seemed to also be better known that the Stanford dragon.