  In order to create new products, inventors search and combine previous ideas.
Few studies have examined the characteristics of search that lead to new
products; most have focused on patent citations, which are often retrospective
and may not reflect the usefulness of inventions.
  Through the analysis of collaborations in an online virtual community, the
impact of originality on popularity and practicality is tested. These tests in
turn are based on a method for measuring the distance between 3D shapes. In
sum, this paper presents a new method for gauging innovation, and suggests ways
of further understanding the role technology plays in encouraging creativity.
From an organization perspective, this work provides insights into the creative
process, and in particular the open innovation process, in which thousands of
individuals together evolve designs, without belonging to the same corporate
structure, without claiming IP rights, without exchanging money.
