I recently implemented a green screen algorithm for my Chalktalk presentation software. This will allow me to give Chalktalk lectures with arbitrary backdrops. This might come in handy if, say, I’m in NYC but I want to give a lecture about hypercubes in front of La Grande Arche de la Défense in Paris.
We got ourselves a big green backdrop just for doing this kind of research. But I find it cumbersome to carry my laptop over to that part of the lab and position myself in front of that green screen every time I want to test my software.
Fortunately it turns out that my old friend Gumby is exactly the right color. Whenever I want to work on this algorithm in Chalktalk, I just hold him up and toggle Chalktalk’s green screen option on and off. It works like a charm — and the set- up is extremely portable.
Who could have imagined that my old childhood friend would help me to discover a new research window.