Markov chains explained visually
Learning and science
interactive math explainer
SHOW HN2014
1,070points
92comments
#2of 2,272 in 2014
Top 1%of 2014 by points
How HN took it
LovedMost comments that take a side are positive
13 positive, 13 neutral or asking, 7 mixed, 0 critical, out of 33 comments about the project. Thread score +0.37.
Design: 5 for, 0 againstIdea: 3 for, 0 againstDocs: 2 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
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What HN said
What people liked
Clear, intuitive explanation that makes Markov chains click
From 3 comments
Beautiful. I had seen Markov chains mentioned before, but had not looked them up. Skimming the wikipedia page made sense (it's a state machine with transitions determined by…
jgable on HNThis is fantastic. I have encountered markov chains in my career and always thought of them as a black box. This simple visualization makes it so easy to understand what has…
itodd on HNThank you! I understood what Markov Chains are now. Nicely done and in a simple understandable fashion. I am also trying to understand what they call Hidden Markov Model…
beenpoor on HN
Beautiful visualizations
From 3 comments
Very nice! I've never had to work with Markov chains but I've read about them and they seem to pop up in lots of places. Nice and simple and interactive explanation.
saganus on HNExcellent visualization!
suchetchachra on HNBeautiful. What did you use to create the graphics?
_nullandnull_ on HN
Objections
Animations are distracting or seizure-like
From 2 comments
Great explanation, but wow, those animations were awful! The movement was great, but the seizure-like jump every time it hit a state was unwatchable. I had to cover them up to…
vitd on HNGreat! It would be nice to be able to stop the animations though, they are distracting while you are trying to read the text. The sunny/rainy probability example is perfect as a…
bdavisx on HN
Labels in the transition table are mislabeled
From 3 comments
Thought I'd point out a little typo. In your table with sliders for adjusting probabilities of state transitions, the P(B|B) probability reads "P(B|A)". Edit 1: Also, P(A|B)…
sinwave on HNPresumably in the B row it should read "P(A|B)" and "P(B|B)"
ajanuary on HNVery nice concept; a mvp Just on first glance: 1. first diagram and others, ball jumps from beginning of BtoA arc to B without sliding along the arc. 2. second diagram box was no…
CharlesMerriam1 on HN
Requests
Add Hidden Markov Model visualization
From 2 comments
Thank you! I understood what Markov Chains are now. Nicely done and in a simple understandable fashion. I am also trying to understand what they call Hidden Markov Model…
beenpoor on HNNow look up Hidden Markov models, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Markov_model How they can be calibrated in the finite case…
murbard2 on HN
Add a way to stop animations
From 1 comment
Great! It would be nice to be able to stop the animations though, they are distracting while you are trying to read the text. The sunny/rainy probability example is perfect as a…
bdavisx on HN
Questions
How Markov chains relate to speech recognition and predictive typing
From 2 comments
Is that how things like Swiftkey or Google Now can predict words so well? If so, how do they do it so quickly?
Orangeair on HNRay Kurzweil, one of the fathers of speech recognition, talks in his book How to Create a Mind about his use of "Hidden Markov Models" as a breakthrough in speech recognition…
jzymbaluk on HN
Alternatives named
Wikipedia Markov chain and HMM pages
From 2 comments
Now look up Hidden Markov models, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Markov_model How they can be calibrated in the finite case…
murbard2 on HN"For example, the algorithm Google uses to determine the order of search results, called PageRank, is a type of Markov chain." I had to research that to understand it:…
hyperliner on HN
Coursera model thinking lecture
From 1 comment
Good lecture on Markov models: https://class.coursera.org/modelthinking-006/lecture/60
romaniv on HN