Captcha Brain Power  new

Google is known for employing brilliant people and it seems to be precisely the case with Luis von Ahn, a professor at Carnegie Mellon. After initially explaining the concept of Captcha, Von Ahn moves on to the subject of Human Computation. The explanation of the thought process involved in specific case studies is amazing, real food for the brain. This Google Video from this specific Google seminar is well worth the time : I consider it a real privilege to have been able to see it

Having used a captcha type system here on Significant Media to prevent pranksters from automatically requesting pages ex. Lost password request it was extremely interesting to view the video.

Von Ahn uses the captcha example to illustrate the idea of Human Computation. He then dives into the subject with great examples, like the ESP Game to demonstrate how people's time can be used to help with useful tasks. Getting people to participate freely comes from giving them a fun game to play at. Whether this is a free ride for people like Google is another debate...

Each case study/example is fascinating, in that the whole thought process behind the idea is just as exciting as the subject itself. Seeing the different player modes offered in the ESP Game and how they each differently provide ways of analyzing data is astonishing.
In fact, the whole framework for defining zones for specific areas in the image, which correspond to key elements is so interesting, it seems weird to divulge it. Maybe it helps with patents and copyright ? Whatever the reason I feel very privileged to have viewed the seminar...



So please feel privileged as well by watching the video below :)