Q&A with SIGGRAPH 2015 Technical Papers Chair Doug James

Technical Papers chair Doug James shares his passion for the program in an exclusive interview below. 

Reminder: Technical Papers submission form and abstract are due 22:00 UTC/GMT, 19 January 2015. The final paper is due 22:00 UTC/GMT, 20 January 2015.

How did you become involved with SIGGRAPH?

My first SIGGRAPH was in `99 when I published a paper as a graduate student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Since then, I've continued to be very excited about interactive physics simulation--and graphics and animation research in general--and found SIGGRAPH to be a great community for advancing those ideas. As a computer graphics professor, it is the natural venue for our research.

What motivated you to become Technical Papers Chair?

SIGGRAPH has always been the primary venue for my research activities, and I have been a long-time volunteer in the review process of the Technical Papers program, having reviewed hundreds of papers. I was honored to be asked to be the Technical Papers Chair: it's a great opportunity for me to help maintain and improve the widely respected SIGGRAPH review process established by our community.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in submitting content for the first time?

For new submitters to the Technical Papers program, I recommend reading the Technical Papers "call for papers" and related website content. In particular, there is an extensive Technical Papers FAQ that addresses many common questions. The basic recipe for showcasing your work in the technical program is to have a novel idea, explain it clearly in written form, and to provide evidence (be it data, images or video) to help support claims that your method improves upon the state of the art in some specific ways. Understanding and citing related works, and being able to explain the pros/cons of your approach, are also critical components. Getting feedback from experienced colleagues is also a good way to improve your submission.

What makes this program different from the others at SIGGRAPH?

The SIGGRAPH Technical Papers program is the premier international forum for disseminating new scholarly work in computer graphics and interactive techniques. We focus on the technical details underlying a broad spectrum of computer graphics innovations, and seek to document and disseminate these advances in all their glory.

Outside of Technical Papers, what other areas of the conference are you particularly excited about?

Everything. Seriously. I strongly recommend trying to look at a little of everything if you can, especially if it's something less familiar or different for you--come for the technical papers, but stay for the art and games. Things always change, and you never know what you will see next year.

How has SIGGRAPH influenced you personally and professionally?

We're inseparable. It's given me a lifelong venue for practicing and experiencing exciting technical and artistic innovations.

Brazilian Paulo Henrique Machado Attends SIGGRAPH 2014 Via Telepresence

Paulo Henrique Machado

Paulo Henrique Machado has lived in a room at Clinicas hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil since he was an infant. As a baby, he suffered paralysis brought on by polio, and is confined to bed and hooked to an artificial respirator 24 hours a day. In 46 years, he has left the hospital only a few dozen times. He saw the ocean for the first time at the age of 32. Much of Paulo’s childhood was spent in his hospital bed, dreaming of the world outside. "For me, playing football or with normal toys wasn't an option -- so it was more about using my imagination," he told BBC News last year.

3D model made by Paolo

Despite his physical limitations, Paulo has trained as a computer animator, and is now making an animated series for children about his life. The series, which is called “The Adventures of Leca and her Friends” is the embodiment of his greatest wish -- to show children that being different is okay, and that everyone is special in their own way. The series was inspired by a book written by his lifelong friend, Eliana Zagui, who is also paralyzed as a result of polio, and lives in the same room as Paulo.

Storyboards from Paolo's series.

For many years, Paulo has dreamed of attending SIGGRAPH. This year, SIGGRAPH and Double Robotics made that dream come true through the use of a telepresence robot. The nicknamed "R2 D2"--Paolo clearly has a great sense of humor--is the first telepresence robot he has ever employed.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Conference Chair Dave Shreiner noted:  “SIGGRAPH is a community. Paulo is part of our community, and we take care of our own.”

You may spot Paulo driving around the conference, steering the Double Robotics robot from his hospital room in Brazil. Please stop and say hello! He speaks some English, but will have Portuguese-speaking SIGGRAPH student volunteers with him to translate.

Paulo interacting with other SIGGRAPH attendees.

On Sunday, August 10, Paulo saw the Vancouver harbor for the first time, and was taken aback. He turned the robot left and right to look out the glass windows of the Vancouver Convention Centre. “Do you know what this means to me?” he asked SIGGRAPH, when questioned how he liked the robot. “It gives me the freedom that I physically can’t have.”

For more information on the series, email leca.e.seus.amigos@gmail.com.

BBC News Article: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23364127

Catarse Campaign: http://catarse.me/en/leca

SIGGRAPH 2014 TECHNICAL PAPERS PREVIEW

The SIGGRAPH 2014 Technical Papers program is the premier international forum for disseminating new scholarly work in computer graphics and interactive techniques. In anticipation of the upcoming conference, SIGGRAPH’s 41st annual, the program preview trailer is available on the official ACM SIGGRAPH YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/ACMSIGGRAPH).

Submissions to the Technical Papers program are received from around the globe and feature high quality, never-before-seen scholarly work. Submitters are held to extremely high standards in order to qualify.

“The quality of this year’s Technical Papers content was superb,” said Adam Finkelstein, SIGGRAPH 2014 Technical Papers Chair. “Not only did we receive outstanding work in the traditional areas of modeling, rendering, animation, and imaging, but we also noticed two emerging fields in design/fabrication and learning.”

SIGGRAPH accepted 127 technical papers (out of 550 submissions) for this year’s showcase, an acceptance rate of 25 percent (one percent higher than 2013). As is tradition, the papers were chosen by a committee made up of academia and industry experts.

The 2014 Technical Papers program also includes presentations for 46 papers published this year in the journal ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG). SIGGRAPH 2014 takes place 10-14 August 2014 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, Canada.

Highlights From the SIGGRAPH 2014 Technical Papers Program:

Pixie Dust: Graphics Generated by Levitate and Animated Objects in Computational Acoustic-Potential Field
Authors: Yoichi Ochiai, Jun Rekimoto, The University of Tokyo; Takayuki Hoshi, Nagoya Institute of Technology

To generate graphics using levitated small objects, this method expands the acoustic manipulation method by changing the distribution of the acoustic-potential field. The approach makes available many expressions (for example, expression by materials and nondigital appearance), and the expressions are levitated in mid-air.

Floating Scale Surface Reconstruction

Authors: Simon Fuhrmann, Michael Goesele, Technische Universität Darmstadt

Introducing a novel, virtually parameter-free method for surface reconstruction from oriented, scale-enabled point samples. The approach constructs an implicit function as the sum of compactly supported basis functions. The final surface is extracted as the zero-level set of the implicit function.

PushPull++

Authors: Markus Lipp, Pascal Müller, Esri; Peter Wonka, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Introducing the novel 3D modeling tool PushPull++. which enables rapid modeling and adjustment of arbitrary meshes with slanted surfaces. PushPull++ reduces the required clicks for common modeling tasks up to an order of magnitude compared to leading commercial tools.

Intrinsic Images in the Wild

Authors: Sean Bell, Kavita Bala, Noah Snavely, Cornell University

Introducing a large-scale, public dataset for intrinsic image decompositions of indoor scenes (Intrinsic Images in the Wild) with crowdsourced annotations of pairwise comparisons of material properties. The approach develops a dense CRF-based algorithm for intrinsic image decomposition of these images that outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms.

Learning Bicycle Stunts

Authors: Jie Tan, Yuting Gu, Karen Liu, Greg Turk, Georgia Institute of Technology

A general approach to simulation and control of a human character riding a bicycle. The rider not only learns to steer and balance in normal riding situations, but also learns to perform a wide variety of stunts, including wheelie, endo, bunny hop, front-wheel pivot, and back hop.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Announce Computer Animation Festival Winners

Jerome Solomon

SIGGRAPH 2014 is pleased to announce the 41st annual Computer Animation Festival award recipients for Best in Show, Jury Award, Best Student Project, Best Animated Short, and Best Visual Effects, among others. More than 100 pieces will be shown during the Computer Animation Festival at the Vancouver Convention Centre, 10-14 August. The 2014 nominees were chosen by an expert panel of jury members from more than 450 submissions.

“Each piece that is in the Festival is truly something special on its own merit,” said Jerome Solomon, SIGGRAPH 2014 Computer Animation Festival Director from Cogswell College. “There's no other stage in the world comparable to SIGGRAPH’s Computer Animation Festival and this year we have added more categories which only enriches the diversity and richness of the show."

The Computer Animation Festival is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival. Since 1999, several works originally presented in the Computer Animation Festival have been nominated for or have received a "Best Animated Short" Academy Award. This year’s selections will be featured during the Computer Animation Festival through a series of Daytime Selects and the iconic Electronic Theater, allowing attendees to glimpse behind the magic of computer-generated effects, visualizations, and animations.

To view the Computer Animation Festival preview video, click here.

BEST IN SHOW

Box (United States)
Directed by Tarik Abdel-Gawad, Bot & Dolly

“Box” explores the synthesis of real and digital space through projection mapping on moving surfaces. The short film documents a first-ever live synchronized performance using 3D projection mapping, robots, and actors.

JURY AWARD

Paper World (Hungary)

Directed by Dávid Ringeisen, László Ruska, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design

“Paper World” is an image film for the World Wildlife Fund Hungary where the values that WWF stands for become visible metaphorically on the level of a micro-world.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Home Sweet Home (France)

Directed by Pierre Clenet, Alejandro Diaz, Romain Mazenet, Stéphane Paccolat, Supinfocom Arles

A house uproots herself and goes on an adventure.

BEST STUDENT PROJECT

Wrapped (Germany)

Directed by Roman Kalin, Falko Paeper, Florian Wittmann, Filmakademie Baden-Wüerttemberg

The deterioration of one is the foundation of another one's life. The world, with its never-ending interplay of eating and being eaten, takes on new dimensions when the unexpected forces of nature clash with the existing structures of our society. The only constant is change.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Gravity (United Kingdom)

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Esperanto Filmoj
VFX work submitted by Framestore, United Kingdom

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Framestore

“Gravity,” this year’s VFX Bafta and Oscar-winner, turns filmmaking on its head. Rather than adding visual effects to a live-action plate, the film is around 80% computer generated, with the live-action elements (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney’s faces), integrated seamlessly with their CG spacesuits and surroundings.

BEST VISUALIZATION & SIMULATION

Kinematics (United States)

Directed by Jessica Rosenkrantz, Jesse Louis-Rosenberg, Nervous System

This video visualizes Kinematics, a system for designing and simulating flexible structures for 3D printing. Kinematics generates customized designs composed of 10s to thousands of hinged, interlocking modules. The designs are computationally folded using rigid-body physics into a smaller form for fabrication by 3D printing.

BEST GAME

The Crew (France)

Directed by Maxime Luère, Dominique Boidin, Rémi Kozyra, Unit Image

The concept of this full-CGI trailer consists of juxtaposing the two worlds valued highly by car lovers: aesthetically pleasing advertisements and action scenes. The features of the game, such as the novelty of the multiplayer aspect and the feeling of freedom in an open world, are highlighted through this concept.

BEST REAL-TIME GRAPHICS

RYSE: Son of Rome (Germany)                                                                                           Directed by Chris Evans, Peter Gornstein, Martin L'Heureux, Crytek

With Ryse, Crytek decided to focus on characters and emotion to serve the game and story. Ryse is an eight hour game with an additional 110-minutes of linear storytelling content. The submission shows gameplay and cutscenes, both utilize the same assets and can be rendered in real-time.

BEST COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENT

Three, "The Pony" (United Kingdom)

Directed by Dougal Wilson, Blink Productions
VFX work submitted by MPC

The pony’s bouncy moves were created using a photo-real CG digital double and extensive R&D to translate human movement to a horse. The film cuts seamlessly between CG and real-life footage. Fur was created using MPC's Furtility tool, and environments were altered using compositing and matte painting.

SIGGRAPH 2014 images are available to authorized news media representatives. To request access, please contact the SIGGRAPH 2014 Media Office at media@siggraph.org. For full details, visit s2014.siggraph.org.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Posts Studio Preview Video

Now you can take an early tour of the wonderful content in this year's SIGGRAPH Studio - a collaborative working environment where the latest technologies and brightest minds come together to learn, experiment, and create. Attendees of the SIGGRAPH Studio explore wide range of new techniques and media with help from experienced hands. Here is where attendees experience the latest in 3D printing, modeling, and animation software.

The SIGGRAPH Studio is made for anyone interested in cutting-edge DIY gadgets, quasi-objects, Rube Goldberg machines, user-generated content projects, software, hardware, processes, workflows, technologies, etc.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Releases Advance Program

The SIGGRAPH 2014 Advance Program is available here.

For comprehensive information about speakers, exciting events, and SIGGRAPH 2014 content, download this year's Advance Program! To make the best out of your SIGGRAPH 2014 experience, use this important resource to begin planning a week filled with education, interaction, networking, and fascination.

The Advance Program is your guide to all the amazing content packed into five full days in wonderful Vancouver. Whether you are interested in Art Gallery, Art Papers, Birds of a Feather, the Computer Animation Festival, Courses, Dailies, Exhibition, Emerging Technologies, Job Fair, Panels, Production Sessions, Real-Time Live!, Studio, Talks, or Technical Papers, this year's conference will highlight developments from the past 12 months that will spark your imagination and blow your mind.

Long-Time Exhibitors and New Ones Bring Excitement to SIGGRAPH 2014

Autodesk and Intel Corp. are just two of many companies returning to SIGGRAPH in 2014.

SIGGRAPH is delighted to share the current amazing caliber of exhibitors already committed to this year's event in Vancouver. Featuring both veteran and new partners, SIGGRAPH 2014's exhibiting companies will offer expertise that is invaluable to the field of computer graphics and interactive techniques.

Even though SIGGRAPH 2014 is still a few months away, it is interesting to report that 16% of the current exhibitor list are first timers. In addition, they represent a total of 17 countries thus far with 44% of SIGGRAPH 2014 exhibitors having bases outside of the United States. This accounts for a 14% increase in foreign partners over SIGGRAPH 2013.

"We feel this type of growth is a direct result of rotating SIGGRAPH to newer geographical areas," says Mike Weil, SIGGRAPH Exhibition Director. "We pay very close attention to both our exhibitors and attendees when it comes to a conference venue location. This year is no different. We expect Vancouver to be an even better experience then it was in 2011."

He continues, "We are extremely proud to welcome these companies to SIGGRAPH 2014, especially those who were unable to attend last year or are long-time supporters of the conference."

Following is the list of SIGGRAPH 2014 exhibitors as of May 20th:

• 3D Consortium
• 3dMD
• 3DTotal.com
• Academy of Art University
• Account Name
• ACUTE3D
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
• American Express OPEN
• Animation Magazine
• ARM
• ASC-American Cinematographer
• Aspera, an IBM Company
• Autodesk
• Avere Systems
• Axceleon Inc.
• B&H Photo, Video & Pro Audio
• Beijing Noitom Technology Ltd.
• BenQ America Corp.
• Canfield Scientific, Inc.
• Cap Digital
• Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Center
• cebas Visual Technology Inc.
• Centre for Digital Media
• CG Masters, School of 3D Animation and Visual Effects
• CGAL - The Computational Geometry Algorithms Library
• Chaos Group
• Christie Digital Systems
• Clara.io
• Computer Graphics World
• CyberGlove Systems
• DigiPen Institute of Technology
• Dimensional Imaging
• Eizo Inc.
• EnvisionTEC
• Epson America
• Esri
• ETRI
• Faceshift AG
• Facet School of Visual Effects
• FARO Technologies Inc.
• ForgeFX Simulators
• Formlabs Inc.
• FORUM8 Co., Ltd.
• Full Sail University
• FXGear, Inc.
• Gener8 Digital Media
• GI LLC
• Government of British Columbia Ministry of International Trade
• IATSE
• IdN magazine
• IDV/SpeedTree
• IEEE Computer Society
• Imagination Technologies
• Imagineer Systems Ltd.
• Imaging Media Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and  Technology
• Intel Corporation
• Isotropix
• JourneyEd
• KOMMERZ
• Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA)
• Lightrig
• Lightwork Design Ltd.
• LMI Technologies Inc.
• Lost Boys Studios
• Luxion, Inc.
• MAXON
• Motion Analysis Corporation
• MSI Computer
• Next Limit Technologies
• NGRAIN
• NVIDIA Corporation
• Oculus
• Ontario Canada Delegation
• Open Exhibits
• OptiTrack
• OTOY, Inc.
• Panasas
• Peer 1 Hosting
• PhaseSpace Inc
• PipelineFX, LLC
• Pixar Animation Studios
• PNY Technologies
• Point Grey Research, Inc.
• Prometheus Kaleido Beijing Technology Limited
• ProMexico
• Purdue University
• QUALCOMM Technologies Inc.
• Quebec Film and Television Council
• Reallusion Inc.
• RebusFarm GmbH
• Ringling College of Art and Design
• Savannah College of Art and Design
• Scanline VFX
• Shapeways
• Sheridan College
• Shotgun Software, Inc.
• "SIAT, Simon Fraser University
• School of Interactive Arts and Technology"
• Side Effects Software
• Siliconarts, Inc.
• Simply Computing
• Simplygon
• Sketchfab Inc.
• Smith Micro Software
• Spheron-VR AG
• Stereolabs
• Stratasys 3D Printers & Production Systems
• Supermicro
• Synertial MotionWerx
• Taylor Francis/CRC/ Focal Press
• TechViz
• The Captury GmbH
• The Foundry Visionmongers
• The University of the Arts
• Think Tank Training Centre
• Thinkbox Software Inc.
• Tinkerine Studios
• United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 IATSE
• Unity Technologies
• VanArts
• Vancouver Animation School
• Vancouver Film School
• Vicon
• Virtual Motion Labs
• Wacom Technology
• Web3D Consortium
• Western Digital

For more information about this year's exhibition, please visit the SIGGRAPH 2014 website.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Releases Technical Papers Data & Statistics

Computational Design of Linkage-Based Characters

This year, the Technical Papers program received a total of 505 completed submissions! After committee review, 127 of them have been accepted, accounting for a 25% acceptance rate. In addition, 46 papers, published in ACM Transactions on Graphics during the course of the last year, will be presented at SIGGRAPH 2014.

Adam Finkelstein

“As is SIGGRAPH tradition, the quality of this year’s Technical Papers content was superb,” said Adam Finkelstein, Technical Papers Chair from Princeton University. “Not only did we receive outstanding work in the traditional areas of modeling, rendering, animation, and imaging, but we also noticed two emerging fields in design/fabrication and learning.”  

For a sneak peek at what's to come, see below.

Design and Fabrication

• Computational Design of Linkage-Based Characters

Authors: Bernhard Thomaszewski, Stelian Coros, Disney Research Zürich; Eitan Grinspun, Columbia University; Vittorio Megaro, ETH Zürich; Markus Gross, Disney Research Zürich, ETH Zürich; Damien Gauge, ETH Zürich

This paper presents a design system for linkage-based mechanical characters. The system allows users to interactively browse different design options, while a continuous optimization step improves motion quality and safeguards against singularities.

• Interactive Design and Optimization of Free-Formed Free-Flight Model Airplanes

Authors: Nobuyuki Umetani, The University of Tokyo, Autodesk Research; Yuki Koyama, The University of Tokyo; Ryan Schdmit, Autodesk Research; Takeo Igarashi, The University of Tokyo

This paper introduces novel interactive techniques for designing original hand-launched free-flight glider airplanes that can actually fly. Based on a compact aerodynamics model, a user-designed wing configuration is interactively optimized to maximize flight-worthiness.

Learning

• Self-Refining Games Using Player Analytics

Authors: Matt Stanton, Ben Humberston, Brandon Kase, Carnegie Mellon University; James O'Brien, University of California, Berkeley; Kayvon Fatahalian, Adrien Treuille, Carnegie Mellon University

Data-driven simulation demands good training data. In games, users explore a small subset of the configuration space. In this paper, a precomputed fluid dynamics game uses crowd sourcing to learn user behavior models that predict the most frequently encountered configurations. Precomputation is concentrated around these states, reducing model error and visual artifacts. 

• Learning Bicycle Stunts

Authors: Jie Tan, Yuting Gu, Karen Liu, and Greg Turk, Georgia Institute of Technology

This paper presents a general approach to simulate and control a human character riding a bicycle. The rider not only learns to steer and balance in normal riding situations, but also learns to perform a wide variety of stunts, including wheelie, endo, bunny hop, front wheel pivot, and back hop.

Take Note: You definitely won't want to miss the paper presentations at SIGGRAPH 2014. Occurring from Monday through Thursday, 10-14 August, the 35 paper sessions will highlight a total of 173 technical papers.