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Show HN: Physically accurate black hole simulation using your iPhone camera

(apps.apple.com)
313 points yunyu | 7 comments | 19 Nov 24 17:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.423s | source | bottom
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bryant ◴[19 Nov 24 17:22 UTC] No.42185902[source]▶
Neat. I'll probably use it for five minutes, appreciate the math that went into it, and move on. But nevertheless, pretty neat.

I say that because there's an idea to play with for a v1.1 that would give it staying power for me:

Do you have enough processing power on an iPhone to combine this with Augmented Reality? That is to say: can you explore "pinning" a singularity in a fixed region of space so I can essentially walk around it using the phone?

Assuming that's possible, you could continue evolving this into a very modest revenue generating app (like 2 bucks per year, see where it goes?) by allowing for people to pin singularities, neutron stars, etc. around their world and selectively sharing those with others who pass by. I'd have fun seeing someone else's pinned singularity next to the Washington monument, for instance. Or generally being able to play with gravity effects on light via AR.

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dartos ◴[19 Nov 24 20:23 UTC] No.42187697[source]▶
Not everything needs to generate cash :)
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1. ripped_britches ◴[19 Nov 24 20:26 UTC] No.42187726[source]▶
Generating cash is a proxy for generating long term human value
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2. tjohns ◴[19 Nov 24 20:34 UTC] No.42187815[source]▶
Not everything needs to generate long term human value. It's okay to just have fun, too.
3. syndicatedjelly ◴[19 Nov 24 20:40 UTC] No.42187865[source]▶
What a warped thing to believe in
4. robocat ◴[19 Nov 24 21:05 UTC] No.42188072[source]▶
Under what assumptions?

Just trying to guess at what they could be is costing me random time...

5. robbiewxyz ◴[19 Nov 24 23:12 UTC] No.42189068[source]▶
Yikes no. Cash generation's a proxy for capturing human value, maybe. If we run with that:

- value can be generated, but not captured (generally good-natured humans do this constantly with those in their communities), and

- value can also be captured, but not generated (i.e. stolen, most of the largest corporations do this in one way or another via e.g. monopolization, political corruption, union busting, resource exploitation, real estate speculation, etc).

6. dartos ◴[20 Nov 24 04:27 UTC] No.42190824[source]▶
Please really think hard about what that means.

Let me give you an example of how backwards that is:

Are you telling me that, for example, Linus Torvalds (or any major contributor to Linux) has generated less long term human value than a congressperson like Rick Scott or Mark Werner?

Linux runs on machines that literally keep people alive as well as that are used to create and display works of art.

7. mpreda ◴[20 Nov 24 06:39 UTC] No.42191321[source]▶
Like some intensive cash-generating activities: drug dealing, weapon traficking, stealing, and money printing. Value at its best.