The most interesting read (and watch) I’ve had this week is on how to solve apparently complex problems with… gameplay.
An example of complex problem: how can a computer “understand” an image? Or, is a computer able to understand an image in a way that humans find useful?
If you’ve ever tried a Google images search, you surely noted that search results contain a set of images whose name contains the search keyword. There’s no guarantee that the meaning of the image is really related to its name.
Yesterday I watched a presentation by Luis von Ahn, which explains how a game (called ESP Game) can be played by excited users and at the same time help in tagging images. It’s a 50 minutes’ video so you have to allocate a considerable amount of time to watch it, but I really suggest to:
1. Watch at least its first 20 minutes.
2. Try to invent a similar game on your own! It’s very fun and results can be surprising.
