Google's Book Scanning Technology Revealed

blee37 writes "Last March we discussed Google's patent for a rapid book scanning system. This article describes and provides pictures of how the system works in practice. Google is secretive, but the system's inner workings were apparently divulged by University of Tokyo researchers who wrote a research article on essentially identical technology. There are also videos of robotic page flippers and information about how Google wants to use music to help humans flip pages."

Librarian Chantey

[_Sprocket_]

Sea Shanties [wikipedia.org] were sung in association with ship-board tasks (often repetitious in nature). Is Google paving the way for the Librarian chantey?

Re:Build your own....

[0100010001010011]

Or damage some cheap 8.5x11 that you print out the relevant pages on.

Re:Video of book scanner...

[Jeremy Erwin]

Elegant, hypnotic, and not what google uses. Google scans the books, lying flat. It projects a grid-like pattern over the pages in IR, photographs up the distorted image using 3D cameras, and recreates a 3D model of the book, and uses that model to undistort the pages. It uses human slaves to turn the pages, since robots aren't as gentle.

The link isn't slashdotted anymore [nyud.net]

Re:We used to call them "Service Bureaus"

[Monkeedude1212]

There are ALOT of books out there which would NOT be suitable for this method. A friend of mine in University for Museum Studies often has to read these books which are incredibly old. I believe the University has a couple that date somewhere around the 1830's which is older than the books you find in the historical village we have in town.

Yes, the university lets you read books that are old enough to belong in a museum. She showed me one of them one time. It was like a manuscript, Thick leather binding, nothing written on the front, heavy faded pages. I almost couldn't believe it.

Sadly, that was the most exciting part of it. The writing was dryer than a desert, and it was on some subject that I had zero interest in. They are supposedly starting to go ALL digital, so I have no idea what they're going to do with those old books and mansucripts they've got sitting around.

I hope they don't destroy them.

Re:Missing the point?

[zavyman]

While you may be correct in certain circumstances, your wording gives a false impression that this always works. You must disclose the best mode [uspto.gov] when filing a patent application.

The specification . . . shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.

"The best mode requirement creates a statutory bargained-for-exchange by which a patentee obtains the right to exclude others from practicing the claimed invention for a certain time period, and the public receives knowledge of the preferred embodiments for practicing the claimed invention." Eli Lilly & Co. v. Barr Laboratories Inc., 251 F.3d 955, 963, 58 USPQ2d 1865, 1874 (Fed. Cir. 2001).

The best mode requirement is a safeguard against the desire on the part of some people to obtain patent protection without making a full disclosure as required by the statute. The requirement does not permit inventors to disclose only what they know to be their second-best embodiment, while retaining the best for themselves. In re Nelson, 280 F.2d 172, 126 USPQ 242 (CCPA 1960).

As you hint at, there's nothing wrong with combining one invention with another, one protected by patent law and the other by trade secret.