Q&A With SIGGRAPH 2014 Emerging Technologies Chair Thierry Frey

"Physical Painting With a Digital Paintbrush"

First off, how many submissions did you get this year and how many were accepted? 

We received almost 90 submissions and accepted 24. We also have an additional two curated pieces. One of these received the SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies prize at the partner conference, Laval Virtual, and thus was invited to SIGGRAPH ["Cyberith Virtualizer"].

How many submissions were from outside of the United States?

Out of 26 accepted pieces, more than 20 are from outside the USA.

Thierry Frey

Did you notice any new themes surface from the submissions?
Not exactly, even though we had a special call for "invisible technologies," i.e. installations and projects that leave technology in the background to focus on the user and/or the usage.


In a few sentences, how would you describe this year’s content?

Very diverse. Some of the selected submissions fall close to the special call. One, for instance, uses a technology that is known, though not extensively used, but in a manner that could help innovate storytelling. Others are more typical of Emerging Technologies, being very scientific or technical.

How will the venue be physically organized this year?

As in the past years, the venue will share space with Art Gallery and Studio. We have tried to emulate last year's design, where a single path leads attendees through all installations, starting with the more technical installations and taking them towards the more practical and tangible. The latter ones are located closer to the Studio, which is all about experience. Studio and Emerging Technologies are actually working together to share a few installations.

What do you think will be a few of the technologies that will really create a buzz?

“Pixie Dust,” for sure! It demonstrates the  manipulation and movement in a 3D volume light objects, such as very small pieces of Styrofoam.

I also think that “Birdly” and “Direct and Natural Interaction With an Aerial Robot” will be extremely popular with the attendees. They are both related to flight, something that we all yearn for, don't we?

What were some of the biggest challenges the jury faced this year?

"Tangible and Modular Input Device for Character Articulation"

I believe there were more or less the same as the previous years. We have two days to judge approximately 90 submissions, and it’s easy to get excited and to discuss each one of them! So time management is a big issue.

And once we have identified the top and bottom tiers, we have to rank the middle tiers. That takes even more time, because there's a facet to each installation that makes it worthy of being accepted. But, we have to make the cut somewhere.

How did you choose your jury?

I submitted the names of some persons I wanted to have on the unified jury and Ann McNamara, SIGGRAPH 2014 General Submissions Chair, made the final selection.

Outside of Emerging Technologies, what other areas of the conference are you particularly excited about?

First of all, Studio, because it has a lot of ties with Emerging Technologies. They are both what I call "experience programs" or hands-on, where attendees can interact and/or create digital content or tangible objects.

Another favorite is the exhibition, which can sometimes be considered as a natural "next step" for some of what is showcased in Emerging Technologies. An innovative and/or disruptive concept can be displayed in Emerging Technologies and then appear as a full-fledged product in the exhibition as early as the following year.

You have a bit of history with SIGGRAPH, in that regard what advice would you give to someone tackling the conference for their first time?

"Janus" - a transparent, double-sided display.

It can definitely be overwhelming! The first concession to make to oneself is that it's impossible to see everything, and choices must be made. Personal areas of interest will naturally help make some of those choices, favoring one program over another, for example, Production Sessions over Technical Papers (or the reverse!) I think you need to plan for the few things that you absolutely don't want to miss, and then also leave some room for wandering around, letting fate/chance guide you.

Most of the content is or will be accessible online after the conference, but not the venues that have to do with "experience,"such as Emerging Technologies, Studio and Art Gallery.

Finally, and probably most importantly, engage with other attendees, contributors and exhibitors.

One of your hobbies is flying gliders, how did you get into that sport and how has it impacted you professionally?

Thierry at the controls.

My father worked for Dassault Aviation, which manufactures the Falcon line of business jets as well as military jets such as the Mirage 2000 and the Rafale. He is himself a private plane and sailplane pilot, so I've heard constantly about flying machines all of my childhood.

I started flying at 15 and received my sailplane license at 16 and my plane licence at 17. In fact, in France, you're legally allowed to fly an aircraft solo before driving a car! After about a 10 years hiatus, I started flying again about 10 years ago and got my sailplane flight instructor certification 5 years ago. I believe that learning how to fly has had as strong impact on me, both personally and professionally.

Personally, the biggest lesson was probably when my instructor let me fly solo for the first time. We were flying runway circuits when he said, "Stop here, let me down, and keep going!" He was basically telling me "I trust you to bring yourself back in one piece." While my parents had actually taught me that lesson earlier, it really dawned on me then, when the consequence of a small problem can really be dramatic.

Thierry in mid-flight.

Professionally, learning how to fly teaches you focus and priorities. The pilot is actually in a constant state of information overload: You have many instruments that are giving you lots of information when, at any given time, you actually really need a single piece of information because you are focused on a single parameter. So you learn how to weed-out, constantly, the non-essential from the essential. The corollary is that you also learn how to assess and shift priorities, because the non-essential at a given time might become the essential a few minutes, if not seconds, later.

Editor's note: Check out the amazing Emerging Technologies Preview Video by clicking here.

Q&A with Ann McNamara, SIGGRAPH 2012 Courses Chair from Texas A&M University

Following below is a brief conversation with Ann McNamara, SIGGRAPH 2012 Courses Chair and assistant professor in the Department of Visualization at Texas A&M University.

Her research is in computer graphics and she is currently particularly focused on the application of visual perception to accelerate and improve computer graphics and visualization.

SIGGRAPH Courses are short (1.5 hours) or half-day (3.25 hours) structured sessions that often include elements of interactive demonstration, performance, or other imaginative approaches to teaching. Attendees hear directly from industry experts and gain knowledge critical to career advancement and job satisfaction.

In general, who typically is interested in Courses?

Courses are diverse, in terms of topic and attendee level, so it makes sense that a broad range of people—from beginners to veterans, students to professors, hobbyists to professionals—can all find something to pique their interest.

How is the content different from 2011?

Courses may have the same name, and even some of the same speakers, but quality control is enforced to ensure that courses are kept up to date.  Attendees want cutting edge content and every year the Courses deliver!

Did you notice any trends in this year’s content?

The biggest trend was the number of quality submissions - the jury and selection committee had a tough job, and that’s a good problem to have and a trend we hope continues. 

How many submissions were there and how many acceptances?

Overall, we had 51 submissions and accepted 23.

What are some highlights of this year’s Courses content?

We have a great slate of courses this year and I encourage everyone to check the website  for more information.  In addition to updated versions of established courses such as Advances in Real Time Rendering for Games and Character Rigging and Creature Wrangling in Game, Feature Animation,and Visual Effects Production, we have new exciting courses in store, including an interdisciplinary course called Principles of Animation Physics by Dr. Alejandro Garcia, a professor in physics and astronomy from San Jose State University.

This course was developed with support from the National Science Foundation by Professor Garcia, who was on leave at the Department of Artistic Development at DreamWorks Animation SKG,where he presented more than 30 classes and special lectures on physics as it applies to animation. The course covers essential topics from physical mechanics to basic bio-mechanics that apply specifically to character animation. 

For anyone who has to provide or receive creative feedback (whether you are a student, professor, artist, or industry professional) Evan Hirsch’s course (Delivering Creative Feedback: A Workshop on Critique) addresses how delivering useful, honest, and effective feedback to creatives is one of the biggest daily challenges producers, supervisors, teachers, and more face. When critiques “feel” subjective, feedback loops can have negative effects on morale and production overall, regardless of the validity of the criticism offered.  This was presented at the SIGGRAPH 2011 Business Think Tank and is invaluable information for anyone seeking to give or receive more effective feedback.

I am also really excited to attend a new course entitled  The Invisible Art: The History of Matte Painting Through the Digital Age. Matte paintings, a mainstay in the filmmaker's repertoire, are used to create realistic illusions while working within strict budgets. This course focuses on matte painting in film, ranging from traditional matte paintings to modern techniques including 3D projections and software-generated matte backgrounds.  The organizer Craig Barron has worked on many notable shots in feature films, and is the recipient of Academy and BAFTA Awards for achievement in visual effects for the work his company Matte World Digital did on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

I am also excited to see what some of our new courses have in store for us including Computational Plenoptic Imaging, Computational Aesthetic Evaluation: Steps Toward Machine Creativity, and State-of-the-Art Stereoscopic Visual Effects: Stereoscopy and Conversion are “More than Meets the Eye”.

In general, what are you looking forward to at SIGGRAPH 2012?

You mean apart from the great courses?  So many wonderful programs - including Real-Time Live!, Studio, Posters, Talks, SIGGRAPH Mobile, and the Computer Animation Festival. Of course I always look forward to reconnecting with friends over pancakes in the pantry (The Original Pantry Café in downtown L.A.) – good thing that place is open 24 hours!

What is the best advice you can give someone interested in submitting a course for consideration in 2013?

The absolute best advice would be to communicate with your SIGGRAPH 2013 Courses Chair, Paul Strauss.  While every course proposal goes through the rigorous jury process, the Courses Chair may have a specific vision and hope to actively encourage submissions in a certain area.  A conversation with Paul would help determine if your idea is in that domain.

My other advice is to carefully read the submission requirements – there are several key pieces of information you will need to provide, and accidentally leaving something out of your proposal can count against you in the review process.  Looking at successful proposals can help too. Think about who your audience is, what you want to teach them, and who are the best people in the world that can help you to deliver your great course. Don't be afraid to reach out to them and tell them you would love to include them in the course you are proposing!

Oh another good piece of advice - go to courses, and if you can't attend SIGGRAPH you can still become an ACM SIGGRAPH  member and gain access to recordings of courses from previous years in SIGGRAPH Encore.

On a personal level, what projects are you currently working on and what makes them interesting to you?

This spring I was lucky that my department (Visualization at Texas A&M) enabled me spend a semester at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. While there I worked with the graphics group and in particular Su Xue, Holly Rushmeier, and Julie Dorsey on a new project that looks at the perception of memory colors.  Memory colors refer to those colors recalled in association with familiar objects, like sky, grass, and skin.  It turns out that we all have an internal representation of these so-called memory colors that are not necessarily the same as the actual color.

For example, we think of the sky as being bluer than it really is.  We are looking at ways to apply this perceptual knowledge in the realm of computer graphic and image processing.  This is really early work and the beginning of what I hope will be a long and fruitful collaboration. I am excited to see where it goes—we are giving a SIGGRAPH 2012 Talk about it [Crowd Sourcing Memory Colors For Image
Enhancement]!

While on the subject of color, I should mention we have three really cool courses on color this year:
1. Cinematic Color: From Your Monitor to the Big Screen
2. Color Transfer
3. Applying Color Theory to Digital Media and Visualization

What does SIGGRAPH mean to you on a personal and a professional level?

Being an assistant professor it is often difficult to separate professional and personal “levels.”  On a professional level SIGGRAPH means an opportunity to stay current with the most recent research trends in both academic and industry.  On a personal level, while the people I work with at SIGGRAPH are like a second family to me - I am also amazed at how many new people I meet each year and how easily lasting friendships can be born at such a big conference.