Welcome!

This web site describes a series of seminars given at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) during the spring of 2003. Each link describes one single talk. At the heart of nearly every talk are one or more of my inventions; some of these are patented, some are not.

We often confuse the terms entrepreneur and inventor. They are quite different. Bill Gates is an entrepreneur. Cal Quate, Gary Starkweather and Nick Sheridan are inventors. For me, inventing is a personal indulgence. I can't imagine doing anything else.

Some of the work I describe in these talks date back to the beginning of the Personal Computer era: work I did at PARC during their golden era when they literally invented the future. My work in optical computing describes an interesting series of ideas I explored at Bell Labs. A series of video-related projects (Responsive Workbench, Looking Glass) shares some sense of commonality. The work on digital photography and stereoscopic imaging is relatively recent. For these, patent applications have been filed. More than half of these talks have not been presented or published, except as patent applications.

These talks describe the creation of a handful of odd, electronic "things". Each uses traditional electronic technology, but generally in a new and somewhat odd way. Each of these "things" is described from idea generation through development to working prototype. Some prototypes still function, others have been captured as video clips. These clips illustrate interesting behavior better than my words.

If you were not able to attend these seminars in Zurich, I'd welcome the opportunity to present them by invitation.

Cary Kornfeld Ph.D.
Stanford University
School of Medicine