World Model · podcast knowledge graph

325 | Alvy Ray Smith on Pixar, Pixels, and the Great Digital Convergence

2025-08-18 · 87 min · episode 325 · 11 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

  • → authored A Biography of the Pixel book
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    author of A Biography of the Pixel
  • → hosted by Sean Carroll person
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    Feed author/publisher: Sean Carroll
  • → founded Pixar company
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    co-founder of Pixar
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    co-founder of Pixar
  • → discusses Science concept
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  • → discusses Physics concept
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    evidence rules-v4
    Feed category: Physics

Entities found in this episode

concepts 4

  • mentioned Science concept
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    Feed category: Science
  • mentioned Physics concept
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    evidence rules-v4
    Feed category: Physics
  • discusses Science concept
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    evidence rules-v4
    Feed category: Science
  • discusses Physics concept
    0.40
    evidence rules-v4
    Feed category: Physics

companys 3

  • mentioned Pixar company
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    co-founder of Pixar
  • founded Pixar company
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    evidence rules-v4
    co-founder of Pixar
  • works at Pixar company
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    evidence rules-v4
    co-founder of Pixar

books 2

persons 2

  • mentioned Sean Carroll person
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    evidence rules-v4
    Feed author/publisher: Sean Carroll
  • hosted by Sean Carroll person
    0.55
    evidence rules-v4
    Feed author/publisher: Sean Carroll
Episode description as stored
The world is becoming pixelated. As computers and other digital devices become ubiquitous, human knowledge and communication and information is gradually being converted into, and manipulated as, strings of bits. What does that really mean, and what are the ramifications going forward? Alvy Ray Smith is a computer scientist, co-founder of Pixar, and author of  A Biography of the Pixel .  We go through the journey of how he helped make computer animation a reality, and the implications of what he calls the "Great Digital Convergence." Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/08/18/325-alvy-ray-smith-on-pixar-pixels-and-the-great-digital-convergence/ S upport Mindscape on  Patreon . Alvy Ray Smith received a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University. He has been a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at New York University, a member of the Computer Graphics Lab at the NY Institute of Technology, director of computer graphics at Lucasfilm, and cofounder of Pixar and Altamira. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the America Association for the Advancement of Science as well as the American Society of Genealogists. He is the winner of two technical Academy Awards. Web site Google Scholar publications Wikipedia