The Utah Teapot (graphics.cs.utah.edu)

173 pointsby cobbal19 hours ago42 comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-23LgrFcvs

EvanAnderson 13 hours ago

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<

apitman 14 hours ago

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

OhMeadhbh 11 hours ago

I was at the same event. I got to hold it. It was a bit of a thrill.

prpl 10 hours ago

I did the high school summer computing institute at the U in the early 2000s. The first part of it was working with C shape edit and doing graphics with alpha_1 and a bunch of other fun things, the second part was building a rover in Lisp.

Alpha_1 has a direct lineage from the development of the teapot and was the basis of Featurecam

vconnor 4 hours ago

I love the association of University of Utah -> Utah teapot -> 3D computer graphics.

Incidentally, I've been following the incredible Interactive Graphics course on YouTube by Cem Yuksel (mentioned in TFA for his improved teapot): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVCuWQV_-Es&list=PLplnkTzzqs...

dang 17 hours ago

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)

CalChris 16 hours ago

https://www.ebay.com/itm/327233836465

dcrazy 10 hours ago

FWIW, the article has been updated this year with a new version of the teapot.

omoikane 16 hours ago

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.

account42 5 hours ago

Ah, GLUT. It will not be missed.

gpugreg 39 minutes ago

FreeGLUT is still around and working well.

fauria 9 hours ago

There is a teapot statue in Dublin, Ireland: https://maps.app.goo.gl/v2GjqYad9n7HhHgP8

rauli_ 6 hours ago

I like that they used Comic Sans as font for the description.

embedding-shape 2 hours ago

Which begs the question: Why the Utah Teapot in Dublin, Ireland?

Seems to have been part of a bigger collection:

> The sculpture, titled Smithfield Utah, was created by artist Alan Butler. It was formally unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Dublin Alison Gilliland. It is the second of six new sculptures being created as part of Dublin City Council’s Sculpture Dublin initiative. The work was inspired by the shape of the Utah Teapot, a ‘virtual’ teapot form designed by mathematician Martin Newell in Utah in 1975. https://www.thejournal.ie/teapot-sculpture-smithfield-square...

Personally, it seems less like "Inspired by the shape of the Utah Teapot" and more something I'd create myself when I was a beginner with 3DS Max 9 back in the day. Most people will just see a normal teapot, a very small selection of niche visitors will recognize it as the Utah Teapot, available as a default object in 3DS Max since forever.

anabis 6 hours ago

I bought one for my home, albeit a 4 person size instead of the original 2(forgot how much ml)

guax an hour ago

I have one, now I am wondering if it’s the big one.

fundatus 2 hours ago

I wanted to buy one some time ago but sadly they are not produced anymore because the factory burned down.

GeeDoubleyou 15 hours ago

Anyone else getting a 418 error trying to access this site?

tniemi 16 hours ago

The "Wilhelm scream" of 3D.

agildehaus 11 hours ago

I know it well from BeOS, and the Toy Story tea party scene.

Oh, and the 3D pipes screensaver.

simtel20 13 hours ago

Here is an old IBM research video on breaking the Utah teapot in 1989[1]

1. https://youtu.be/3NQuHpUyZbI?is=sjkQcadU6_IHjgr0

xattt 14 hours ago

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.

GreenLightGo an hour ago

I'd 3D-print it, but I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to boil tea in it...

jolt42 16 hours ago

The pelican on the bike seems like the new teapot.

car 15 hours ago

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...

mjg59 15 hours ago

Technically it's from Friesland, who had some sort of complex relationship with Melitta at the time (https://x.com/FrieslandPorzel/status/845221850900762625)

embedding-shape 2 hours ago

"Inspired by" might be better than "original pot" because as anyone can tell (including you!), they aren't 1:1 matches.

Almost any 3D artist doing objects, especially a new category of objects they haven't done before, will do so with 3 or more reference images from every angle and model based on those, pretty tightly initially at least. But even with that, you add your own style and taste into the modeled object, and almost never will say that what you referenced from is the "original object" in that manner.

"Inspired by" works well though and doesn't remove anyone's agency or lessen their "creation" of it :)

Findecanor an hour ago

Melitta/Friesland made it in different sizes. The smallest is squished-down, matching the 3D model's proportions a little bit more.

I have one at a prominent place in my home, next to a Luxo Jr lamp and ball, SGI badges and autographed photo of Lenna. Still looking for a terracotta rabbit.

TheJoeMan 12 hours ago

I was just discussing with my coworker how the demo program for the 3D Spacemouse is rotating the Teapot. Takes a bit of practice, but makes CAD more fun.

zombot 3 hours ago

The Utah Teapot, including warp nacelles, should really have a statue erected in its honor.

If there were a digital city somewhere on the net, accessible to everyone, that would be a great place to put it.

lwhi 7 hours ago

Does the Utah Teapot, pour tea well?

pmg 9 hours ago

I’ve had both an original Friesland/Melitta Utah Teapot and the ~2017 reissue.

The interiors differ between the original and the reissue. The latter has an integrated ceramic strainer near the spout root not present on these models updated interior geometry.

This listing appears to show a “vintage” teapot with the strainer on photo 8 - so I guess the plot steepens: https://www.ricardo.ch/de/a/melitta-friesland-minden-teekann...

jupitr 17 hours ago

I wonder the reasons for adding/removing the base rims over the years

rhcom2 12 hours ago

The Utah Teapot is filled with fry sauce.

wslh 12 hours ago

Don't forget the one rendered in the Commodore Amiga [1] in Realsoft 3D [2].

[1] https://www.meskanen.com/history.html

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realsoft_3D

darknavi 17 hours ago

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

ginko 17 hours ago

>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.

pimlottc 17 hours ago

It also predates it by over 20 years

sien 14 hours ago

The Stanford bunny seemed to also be better known that the Stanford dragon.

dcrazy 10 hours ago

Maybe not for the younger generations. The teapot isn’t conducive to showing off many contemporary graphics techniques.

dcrazy 10 hours ago

Some notable names in computer graphics associated with the University of Utah:

- Ed Catmull

- Raphael Rom

- Henri Gouraud

- Jim Blinn

- Bui Ton Phong

I think they “made their mark” when they essentially invented 3D graphics.

dahart 9 hours ago

The Utah Teapot predates the Stanford Dragon by 20 years, and was already famous in graphics (at Siggraph, for example) and had a cameo in Toy Story before the dragon was made.