Geometry: New Tools for New Technologies: Hour 1: Unit 3: Picture Perfect Error-Correcting Codes

How is geometry used to program a robot's movement? How do zoo planners use geometry to make habitats that are enjoyable and safe? Why do people who plan garbage pickups and snowplow routes need geometry? Geometry: New Tools for New Technologies I and II explores the exciting world of Geometry in the 20th century.

Unit 3: Picture Perfect Error-Correcting Codes (12:41)

Summary of the Video

This video, hosted by Robert McElice of California Institute of Technology, investigates the geometry behind the technology used to get the Voyager spacecraft to return pictures from Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune to Earth, as well as to produce high-fidelity sound from a compact disc. The key mathematical idea is to use special sequences of zeros and ones (binary digits) to represent the pictures or sounds. These special sequences constitute an error-correcting code. The way pictures or sounds are digitalized for transmission and then are protected by error-correcting codes is developed. Examples show how geometry is used to create such codes.

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