Utah Teapot
A computer model of a white teapot that became a standard test object for 3D graphics.
In 1975 Martin Newell, a graduate student at the University of Utah, needed a complex curved object for his work on 3D graphics. He measured his family's Melitta teapot, a household object that he and his wife Sandra had bought, and entered the data points by hand. The teapot became a shared test model.
Its handle, spout and lid show curved surfaces, hollows and shadows, which made it a good test for rendering software. Graphics researchers kept it in their libraries, and it appears as a hidden object in films, games and software.
Why it matters
The teapot is an icon of computer graphics and a running in-joke. It shows how the shared data helped researchers compare methods.
Key facts
- Created in 1975 at the University of Utah.
- Modeled on a real Melitta teapot.
- Data entered by hand.
- The original teapot is in the Computer History Museum.
Sources
- Campbell-Kelly, Martin, and William Aspray, et al. Computer: A History of the Information Machine. 3rd ed. Westview Press, 2013.
- Computer History Museum, "Utah Teapot" collection records.
- Crow, Frank. "The Origins of the Teapot." IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications 7, no. 1 (1987).