[HN Gopher] Show HN: A whiteboard that writes math equations
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Show HN: A whiteboard that writes math equations
Author : Ilasky
Score : 107 points
Date : 2024-09-09 12:23 UTC (4 days ago)
(HTM) web link (whiteboard.lasky.io)
(TXT) w3m dump (whiteboard.lasky.io)
| Ilasky wrote:
| I was inspired by 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 wrote:
| It 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 wrote:
| Using a variety of hand-written inputs, so font variation would
| be present. If you could give a screenshot, that'd be helpful!
| gus_massa wrote:
| I run it again and got this: 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 wrote:
| I asked it to prove Fermats Last Theorem and it started writing
| (some nonsense) into the margin. Which was funnny.
|
| Cool project tho
| Ilasky wrote:
| Unlike Fermat, the whiteboard has enough room in the margin :)
| InDubioProRubio wrote:
| HNug 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 wrote:
| Should be back up!
| kleiba wrote:
| A bit too sloppy and a bit too slow for my taste, but otherwise
| great!
| Ilasky wrote:
| Actively working on making the font more legible and adding a
| "speed slider"!
| madamelic wrote:
| You should label the top end of the slider "TA"
| jpl56 wrote:
| Nice 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 wrote:
| Agreed the ordering is a bit weird. Working on figuring out a
| way to adjust that. Thanks for the feedback!
| xenonite wrote:
| Also I would expect that the letters are consistent. Not
| necessarily legible, but always quite the same.
| sieste wrote:
| agreed. 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 wrote:
| Writing the radical sign last is a sign of sophistication of
| maturity.
| nextcaller wrote:
| Yeah https://i.imgur.com/DvcFRe7.jpeg
| flareback wrote:
| Looks 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 wrote:
| It looks like the handwriting of a 5 year old or a software
| engineer
| haskman wrote:
| Tried "what is (x-2-1)/(x-1)?" and got absolute gibberish in
| return
| Ilasky wrote:
| Do you have a screenshot of what you got? Or can you describe
| it?
|
| I just tried it and it gave the correct answer.
| haskman wrote:
| Now that I'm looking more carefully at the answer, it is
| probably correct but just formatted badly with overlapping
| text - https://imgur.com/a/F7awsTY
| Ilasky wrote:
| Ah -- I see! Thanks for taking a screenshot.
|
| Will work on making the spacing better on desktop!
| tempfile wrote:
| Why does it write like it's having a stroke?
| donq1xote1 wrote:
| This sounds very interesting! I will check it out.
| renerick wrote:
| Fun project, although it does seem to struggle with writing the
| longer it goes https://imgur.com/TntAViO
| mdrzn wrote:
| Very cool project!
| p0w3n3d wrote:
| It 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 wrote:
| What are you using to make handwritten text? Is it a model?
| hardlianotion wrote:
| Very cool. Could do with training on some decent handwriting
| pimlottc wrote:
| Agree, at times it is so sloppy that it's not clear what's
| being written.
| singlow wrote:
| Yes - 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 wrote:
| Wow, it can do ODEs. Pretty awesome.
| loxias wrote:
| This 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 wrote:
| The 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
| minkles wrote:
| it's still better than my handwriting :)
| GTP wrote:
| It just makes everything more realistic :D
| viveknathani_ wrote:
| this is extremely cool and useful.
| dzink wrote:
| It 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 wrote:
| For 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 wrote:
| math prof handwriting checks out ;)
| withinrafael wrote:
| I 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 wrote:
| I 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 wrote:
| Here 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 wrote:
| ./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 wrote:
| I asked for the number of ways to get a royal flush given an ace
| and King in your hand. It told me 4
| ThefinalResult wrote:
| I wrote: Write the gamma function and explain it's relationship
| to erfi
|
| I got: Nothing
| samschooler wrote:
| Made a lil script to compare the endpoint response vs the
| whiteboard.
| https://gist.github.com/samschooler/2b2831f232339a9d747934b7...
|
| Just run: #./solve.js "What is the answer to life, the universe,
| everything?"
| jv22222 wrote:
| IMHO the writing animation should run about 4x that speed.
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