SIGGRAPH 2014 Releases Sneak Peek Emerging Technologies Video

The SIGGRAPH 2014 Emerging Technologies program showcases the latest interactive and graphics technologies before they transform the way we live and work. Emerging Technologies presents demonstrations of research from several fields, including displays, input devices, collaborative environments, gaming, computer vision, biometrics, wearable computing, scientific visualization, medicine, robotics, and design.  Here's the new preview video to get you an early peek of the wonderful tech coming to Vancouver.

Check Out SIGGRAPH 2013 Posters and New Poster Videos

SIGGRAPH 2013 Posters Coordinator Kurt Luther provides a high-level overview of the Posters Program. Posters are a convenient method for presenting in-progress research, student projects, and late-breaking work. Poster topics range from applications of computer graphics to in-depth research in specific areas. They are on display for attendees to browse at their leisure. Poster authors meet and discuss their work with attendees during scheduled Poster Presentations.

Attendees Experience New Technologies at the SIGGRAPH 2013 Studio

Studio sessions at SIGGRAPH 2013 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California, offer a collaborative working environment and  give attendees a chance to come together to learn, experiment, and create.  Attendees can try out a wide range of new techniques and media in 3D printing, modeling, mobile devices, and animation software and get help from experienced hands.

“Studio is a stand-out program at SIGGRAPH year after year,” said Patricia Clark, SIGGRAPH 2013 Studio Chair from Arizona State University. “It’s an adult technology playground.  It’s more than just seeing the new technology and what it can produce, but attendees also have the chance to collaborate and work side-by-side with experienced professionals that they may not have ever had the chance to meet before.”

Below are a few highlights of each facet of SIGGRAPH 2013’s robust Studio sessions.

Studio Talks
Attendees get a behind-the-scenes look at Studio-related technologies, artwork, and concepts and have the chance to discuss the technologies with the presenters. Attendees can choose from a sampling of the offerings below or view the full list of Studio Talks here. 

Playing Audrey II: Creating a Digital Actor Through Game Technology
Monica Evans and Kathryn Evans, The University of Texas at Dallas

This talk discusses how a team of faculty and students used digital game technology, motion capture, and facial animation to create a fully realized digital actor (the man-eating plant Audrey II from the musical “Little Shop of Horrors”) that performed on-stage with live actors in November 2012.

The Bleeding Edge of 3D Printing and Digital Fabrication
Daniel Collins and Don Vance, Arizona State University; Robert Michael Smith, New York Institute of Technology; John William Penn, JWP Design

This presentation provides an overview of new directions in 3D printing and digital fabrication. It includes short video clips of a variety of different systems.

Red Ball - Performing With iPads
Marla Schweppe, Rochester Institute of Technology; Darren Stevenson, PUSH Physical Theatre

PUSH Physical Theatre, a Rochester-based group, added iPads to their traditional tools of magic, mime, and movement in the performance of Red Ball. They added five iPads to the mix, performing with graphics created by Marla Schweppe.

Studio Workshops
Attendees engage a series of in-depth, intimate workshops, taught by the best in the industry. Attendee highlights include the following, or see the full list of Studio Workshops here.

Make Mobile Apps Quickly
Gil Irizarry, Conoa, Inc.

Using a variety of free open-source tools, build mobile apps quickly and easily.

3D Scanning and Fine Tooning With FaceGen
Ketrina Yim, PhaseSpace, Inc.

Using high-resolution video capture and software from FaceGen, Autodesk MotionBuilder, and other vendors, Ketrina Yim works with attendees to create 3D characters from their own faces and animate them in real time with live expressions by building a facial rig inside MotionBuilder.

3D Data Capture
Daniel Collins, Aubrey Wigner, and Joseph Hudy,  Arizona State University; Dan Gustafson, NextEngine, Inc.; Denise Grauzinis-Bartels, 4D Dynamics Bvba; Chris Lane, 3dMD

A hands-on demonstration of the various 3D data capture devices in Studio 3D.

Studio Projects
Attendees get hands on experience with the following technologies.  See the full list of Studio Projects here.

Air Painting & More: Revolutionary New Ways to Paint!
Jeremy Sutton, Sutton Studios & Gallery

Experience air painting with the Leap Motion Controller and Corel Painter Freestyle, an exciting new digital-painting paradigm in which you control your brush strokes through finger movements in the air, plus the latest in photo painting with Corel Painter and painting on the iPad.

CUMOS+: Cubic Kaleidoscope Workshop
Minori Yamazaki, Keisuke Shuto,Junichi Kanebako, and Hiroko Uchiyama, Joshibi University of Art and Design

In this workshop for producing cubic kaleidoscopes, attendees draw pictures on a computer and use a cutting plotter to cut them into polycarbonate mirrors. Then they incorporate colorful light into the interior of the cubic kaleidoscope, using color-seal film and permanent-marker pens.

Pi Drums
Barry Moon, Hilary Harp, and Byron Lahey, Arizona State University; Miller Puckette, University of California, San Diego

PI Drums are ordinary drums transformed into programmable electronic instruments. Program your own interactive musical interfaces using the Pure Data graphical programming environment and Raspberry PI computers.

Romibo Robot Project
Aubrey Shick, Carnegie Mellon University

Social robot therapy is known to benefit individuals with autism, traumatic brain injury, dementia, and other social and emotional disabilities. The Romibo mobile robot allows attendees to enjoy participating in the evolution and development of this technology by contributing personal experiences and expertise through clever hacks.

Interactive Card-Weaving Design and Construction Yuki Igarashi
Jun Mitani, University of Tsukuba

An interactive system to assist design of original weaving patterns and their construction. Users can design the color of each warp yarn, the direction of four yarns passing through each card, and the direction and number of rotations of the cards.

SIGGRAPH 2013 Exhibits Fast Forward Provides Quick Summary of Show Floor

Come to the Exhibits Fast Forward to hear from exhibitors before the show floor even opens.

SIGGRAPH 2013 (21-25 July) at the Anaheim Convention Center in California will feature a new session: Exhibits Fast Forward, where attendees have the opportunity to hear a one-minute highlight of what is new from participating exhibitors.

“This diverse session gives attendees a taste of the Exhibit floor in a very condensed format,” said Mk Haley, SIGGRAPH 2013 Conference Chair from Disney Research. “Even though this is the first year for this event, we anticipate this becoming a favorite, just like Technical Papers Fast Forward. It is a very efficient and entertaining way to hear the latest and greatest from a variety of exhibitors. ”

Based off of the perennially popular Technical Papers Fast Forward, Exhibits Fast Forward gives presenters less than a minute to impress the crowd with their product or service and entice them to hear the complete story at the exhibitor booth later in the week. Attendees can expect entertaining and enlightening presentations from many exhibitors including:

• Mcor technologies
• zSpace, Inc. 
• Avere Systems 
• Prefixa International INC 
• French Pavilion by Cap Digital  and Imaginove
• Lightcraft Technology 
• ForgeFX 
• Vancouver Film School 
• Esri 
• Kobold Charakteranimation 
• ARM 
• Korea Creative Content Agency 
• Siliconarts, Inc. 
• Bleank 
• Vicon Motion Systems
• BZP PRO 
• The CGAL Project
• WorldViz 
• SpeedTree - Interactive Data Visualization, Inc.  
• Qt by Digia  
• Integrated Media Technology Inc. 
• Leopoly  - Leonar3Do International Zrt. 
• Lightwork Design Ltd  
• AMD 
• CADA
• Faceware Technologies 
• Reallusion, Inc. 
• GreenButton Ltd.
• Beijing Noitom Technology Ltd
• Dimensional Imaging Ltd
• Christie Digital Systems
• British Columbia Ministry of International Trade 

The session will take place on Monday, 22 July starting at 3:45pm in Ballroom AB and is open to full conference, select conference, exhibitors, exhibits plus, and exhibits-only badge holders.  Check back to this page for exhibitor updates to this list.  And for those attendees only at SIGGRAPH for Sunday and Monday, this just might be a "must attend" event, so get there early.

SIGGRAPH Mobile Presents Latest Advances in Handheld Technology

Sphero Augmented Reality: When Balls Become Beavers

Now in its second year, the SIGGRAPH Mobile program presents the latest advances in mobile technologies, graphics, and apps. In talks, workshops, panels, and demonstrations, mobile innovators from around the world explore powerful new graphics techniques, game production for handheld devices, visualizations with augmented reality, and how mobile games can help save the world's rainforests.

Lars Erik Holmquist

“We are very excited about this year's SIGGRAPH Mobile program. We are seeing a lot of innovation in graphics as well as mobile applications, and it is clear that mobile is now an established part of SIGGRAPH,” said Lars Erik Holmquist, SIGGRAPH Mobile Chair and Principal Research Scientist at Yahoo! Labs. “Some of the top companies in mobile graphics hardware will present their latest technologies, including ARM, NVIDIA, Intel, and QUALCOMM.”

According to Holmquist, some of the interesting application areas include mobile games for positive change, augmented reality for museums, and new ways to take digital photographs. There will also be workshops and talks about how to make mobile graphics and apps across many platforms. Plus, there will be a theatre group that uses iPads in live performances and a toy robot anyone can control with a mobile phone in addition to a hands-on, interactive area.

SIGGRAPH Mobile Highlights:

Challenges With High-Quality Mobile Graphics
Sam Martin, Geomerics Ltd.; Marius Bjørge, Sandeep Kakarlapudi, Jan-Harald Fredriksen, ARM Holdings, plc.

Click on image to enlarge.

This talk identifies and explores potential solutions to the challenges that exist in bringing AAA-quality graphics to mobile, including the new features exposed by OpenGL ES 3.0, the trend to high-resolution screens, and a novel "on chip" deferred-rendering technique for Mali GPUs.

Mobile Visual Computing in C++ on Android
Yun-Ta Tsai, Orazio Gallo, David Pajak, Kari Pulli, NVIDIA Research

Click on image to enlarge.

This workshop teaches the basics to get started quickly with your visual-computing project on Android using native C++ code, from setting up tools to running your first native application, and it dives into deeper topics, including computer vision with OpenCV, camera control on FCam, and performance tuning.

New Directions and Developments in Mobile GPU Design
Eric Demers, QUALCOMM Incorporated; Barthold Lichtenbelt, NVIDIA Corporation; David Blythe, Intel Corporation; Dave Shreiner, ARM Inc.; James McCombe, Imagination Technologies Limited; Anand Shimpi, AnandTech, Inc.

This panel is designed for advanced programmers who want to learn more about taking full advantage of the latest GPU design and implementations to deliver the most advanced graphics for smartphone and tablet users.

Red Ball - Performing With iPads
Marla Schweppe, Rochester Institute of Technology; Darren Stevenson, PUSH Physical Theatre

Click on image to enlarge.

PUSH Physical Theatre, a Rochester-based group, added iPads to their traditional tools of magic, mime, and movement in the performance of Red Ball.  They added five iPads to the mix, performing with graphics created by Marla Schweppe.

Social Reform Through Mobile Gaming (Seed.Genesis)
Alexis Polanco, Danielle Esmaya, Nathaniel Martin, Bradley Chun, Mateusz Mrowiec, Joseph Hewitt, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Click on image to enlarge.

Team Seed believes that mobile games provide the level of immersion required to renew society's interest in protecting our rainforests.

Sphero Augmented Reality: When Balls Become Beavers
Jonathan Carroll, Fabrizio Polo, Orbotix, Inc.

Click on image to enlarge.

The moving robot “fiducial” takes augmented reality on mobile devices to an entirely new level.

The Collaborative Composite Image, the MAG Project
Susan Lakin, David Halbstein, Rochester Institute of Technology

Click on image to enlarge.

A collaborative project involving students and faculty in the School of Photography and the 3D Digital Design Department of the School of Design at Rochester Institute of Technology with the curators of the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) in Rochester created an augmented-reality experience using paintings from the MAG's permanent collection.

Get Geeked! SIGGRAPH 2013 Releases Emerging Technologies Preview Video

SIGGRAPH 2013 just released its newest preview video ... .this one profiling the amazing experiences in Emerging Technologies.  Learn how attendees will be able to interact with the latest systems before they become hot topics in mainstream media and blogs. Emerging Technologies presents innovative technologies and applications in several fields, from displays and input devices to collaborative environments and robotics, and technologies that apply to film and game production.

You can learn more by clicking here or just watch the video below:

SIGGRAPH 2013 Releases Emerging Technologies Preview

SIGGRAPH 2013, 21 -25 July at the Anaheim Convention Center in California, released its list of 2013 Emerging Technologies highlights that will be featured at this year’s conference.

SIGGRAPH 2013 Emerging Technologies presents innovative technologies and applications of the latest developments in several fields, from 3D displays and interactive input devices to collaborative environments and robotics, and technologies that apply to film and game production. The Emerging Technologies program provides attendees a unique hands-on opportunity to interact with select innovative technology before they become hot topics in the mainstream media and blogs.

“We had an incredible response from many fields, including displays, robotics, input devices, interaction techniques, gaming, and computer vision,” said Dylan Moore, SIGGRAPH 2013 Emerging Technologies Chair. “We were especially pleased that our call for assistive technologies was answered. The focus was to only showcasing those technologies that blew the jury away on every level, and meeting a high bar for quality and novelty.  We can't wait to get these technologies in the hands of our attendees to try out."

SIGGRAPH 2013 Emerging Technologies Highlights:

An Autostereoscopic Projector Array Optimized for 3D Facial Display
Authors: Koki Nagano, University of Southern California; Andrew Jones, USC Institute for Creative Technologies; Jing Liu, University of California at Santa Cruz; and Jay Busch, Paul Debevec, Mark Bolas, Xueming Yu, USC Institute for Creative Technologies

Click image to enlarge.

This dense-projector-array display is optimized in size and resolution to display an autostereoscopic life-sized 3D human face with a wide 110-degree field of view. It has multiple applications, including 3D teleconferencing and fully synthetic characters for education and entertainment.

IllumiRoom: Peripheral Projected Illusions for Interactive Experiences
Authors: Brett Jones, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Hrvoje Benko, Eyal Ofek, and Andrew Wilson, Microsoft Research

Click image to enlarge.

IllumiRoom is a proof-of-concept system that augments the area surrounding a television with projected visualizations to enhance traditional gaming experiences. It changes the appearance of the room, induces apparent motion, extends the field of view, and enables entirely new physical gaming experiences.

Light-in-Flight: Transient Imaging Using Photonic Mixer Devices
Authors: Felix Heide, Matthias Hullin, James Gregson, and Wolfgang Heidrich, The University of British Columbia

Click image to enlarge.

Commercial time-of-flight sensors based on photonic mixer devices (PMDs), are used to capture transient images of photons in-flight. Through the use of readily available components, Light-in-Flight is orders of magnitude less expensive than previous approaches, while simultaneously simplifying and speeding up the capture process.

Near-Eye Light-Field Displays
Authors: Douglas Lanman and David Luebke, NVIDIA Research

Click image to enlarge.

Near-eye light-field displays depict sharp images by synthesizing light fields corresponding to virtual scenes located within a viewer's natural accommodation range. This system optimizes optical trade-offs among resolution, field of view, and form factor, and demonstrates a thin, lightweight HMD prototype, containing a pair of microlens-covered OLEDs.

Skyfarer: A Mixed-Reality Shoulder Exercise Game
Authors: Marientina Gotsis, Vangelis Lympouridis, David Turpin, Fotos Frangoudes, University of Southern California; Somboon Maneekobkunwong, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center; and Maryalice Jordan-Marsh, University of Southern California

Click image to enlarge.

A mixed-reality shoulder exercise game developed for prevention and treatment of shoulder pain for individuals with spinal cord injury.

A detailed list of all SIGGRAPH 2013 Emerging Technologies is available here.

SIGGRAPH 2013 Conference Chair Mk Haley Previews the 40th SIGGRAPH Conference

Following is a brief conversation with Mk Haley (pictured below), SIGGRAPH 2013 Conference Chair from Disney Research Labs, who discusses the vision, goals, and team behind SIGGRAPH 2013.

Background on Mk:

Mk Haley, SIGGRAPH 2013 Chair
Photo credit: Jess Allen

Mk Haley is a Research Producer with the Disney Research Labs, having worked with Disney for 19 years across Imagineering, R&D, Television and other groups in a variety of creative, technical, and operations roles. SIGGRAPH 2013 is her 25th Conference as an attendee and volunteer, primarily contributing to student and educational based initiatives and Emerging Technologies.   Mk has also served as Communications Director on the ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Committee and as part of the Education Committee.
 
Having taught part-time at Cal State LA in the Design Dept, UCLA in the School of Theater Film and Television, and Carnegie Mellon University in their Master's of Entertainment Industry Management Program, Mk recently completed a three-year term as Full-time Faculty and The Associate Executive Producer of the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, and still serves as adjunct faculty to the program.  She has contributed to books on the creative process with Walt Disney Imagineering, and patented work in the area of user interface.

What is your vision for SIGGRAPH 2013?

For SIGGRAPH 2013 we’re focused on a high-quality experience across the board. Not only the content we present, but also the entire experience involving the conference:  from the submission and review process to the attendee experience.  

The key areas of focus we defined are Community, Service and Delight!  I have worked with the 2013 team of volunteers from the very beginning to consider how to best serve all of our communities. This includes our conference attendees as well as our submitters, jurors, operations teams, and volunteers.  Each of these communities has unique needs and priorities that contribute to SIGGRAPH’s success. Thus, we really focused on tending to as many as we could across the board during the entire process to allow each the best potential to thrive.

This easily leads into the "service' idea.  In what ways can we provide an experience with service as a focus?  If there were ever a question about a venue or creative idea, we could go back to "What best serves the community?" and it’s pretty easy to pick. 

The focus for "Delight" is somewhat difficult to define in words, but you sure know it when you see it.  How is our conference a must-see experience? What experiences or opportunities will you see on-site that just delight and amaze you?  What experiences will make you thrilled you are here?  From training our Student Volunteers with an experienced organizational development and leadership expert to providing the highest level of service to our attendees, and updating our servers to best handle our submission loads, the community will be provided the highest level of delightful service.

Over the past 25 years, you have held various volunteer positions as a SIGGRAPH volunteer, how does this experience as Conference Chair compare?
The Conference Chair experience has an interesting point of view into every single program. You are able to see so many working parts all chugging away at once. It is inspiring to say the least!  I was able to define and select my entire team, which was fun, but  there were so many great people interested in supporting the conference with such a nice range of good ideas that is was a tough choice.  We all bought into the vision right off the bat, so it’s great to see this giant machine headed in the same direction.  It’s also staggering to realize how much work each venue chair and their team has put into each program, and then multiply that by our entire scope.  Amazing!

I don't know if the general public realizes the scale of this entire venture.  That surely was a surprise.  The total number of talented people interested in supporting the conference, anyway they could, with thought provoking and new ideas was a delight!

Editorial note: For a full list of the committee, click here.

What can attendees expect this year?
Attendees can expect a real sense of focus for our venues this year.  Many had specific calls that encouraged a point of view to be expressed in the submission which will result in excellent bodies of work for the attendees to enjoy and get inspired by.  For example, the Emerging Technologies venue has always celebrated and explored a wide range of interactive technologies, from robotics and displays, to sensors and input devices.  This year Dylan Moore, our chair, has encouraged submissions with a focus on "Assistive Technologies". This has encouraged a lot of outreach and consideration to medical devices, educational tools, and other non-traditional communities of research for us.  I am excited to see the results.

Our Art Gallery chair, Victoria Szabo from Duke University, has challenged the submitters to consider scale in her call for the venue titled, XYZN:Scale.  Digital work has the unique opportunity to explore scale, perhaps more readily, and submitters are encouraged to develop and submit work that celebrates, questions, and explores these challenges and opportunities.


What is important to know about Anaheim, California as a host city?

Anaheim is only 30 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, so it is convenient for many of our attendees already located in Southern CA.  SIGGRAPH has not been to Anaheim since 1993, and wow has it changed! 

The convention center had a massive re-design and expansion, with both technology upgrades and thoughtful space design considerations that will really support our goals at the conference. They now have the largest exhibition show floor on the West Coast, and have a focus on easy access to meeting rooms.

There are fantastic meeting spaces, for formal and informal interaction, and gorgeous exterior spaces as well. The local area has also gone through some major expansion, with a second park, Disney's California Adventure, added to the Disneyland Resort, and an upscale dining and retail district developed as well.

All of our conference hotel selections are within walking distance to the convention center, and public ways are all lush and landscaped areas that you will enjoy strolling through.  The city has really collaborated between local services and attractions with their convention and meetings teams to support easy connections across work and play.

How is the SIGGRAPH conference trying to remain relevant?
With the addition and growth of our Mobile and Gaming focus areas, we are really connecting with all of the research, educational, and production areas that our industry is exploding in.  We will also welcome back the recently formed Business Symposium, a forum for the business leaders in our industry to connect and develop a community that supports not only their strategy directly, but also encourages the support of their team members participation in the conference.  With our demographic changing to include both senior leaders in the industry and more attendees who are just beginning their careers, we are actively engaging in social media and other formats that best speak to all of our attendees.


What are some of the things that will be happening at SIGGRAPH 2013 that you are personally most excited about?
 I am very excited about the SIGGRAPH University proposal that our Courses Chair Paul Strauss from Google, Inc., initiated. It has greatly taken off beyond this conference and into other organizational-related concepts.  Paul is working with contributors who are not only subject matter experts, but also have experience in online education. The goal is to present and share a few of our foundation level offerings this year, for free, online, to anyone after the fact. This will start a cycle of our conference extending far beyond the one week, in one particular place.  For example, next year's attendees can prepare themselves with introductory content, and then arrive onsite ready to hit the more advanced topics.

By sharing content our attendees have always shown a high interest in, especially in the forums they are familiar with (in this case our ACM SIGGRAPH YouTube Channel), we can extend our impact and develop relationships with the community that reflect the evolution of technology and educational models.

I am also very excited about the great juries our teams have pulled together, in particular the Computer Animation Festival, chaired by Jason R.M. Smith.  His world class collection of animation masters from around the globe (and each viewing the work from their own lens, simulation, anime, independent, large studios, etc.) will provide our attendees with the best of the best across the board, because there is such diversity in the process.

What changes (if any) should attendees expect this year?

I am thrilled to extend the interaction opportunities for our Exhibitors from the show floor and tech talks to the beloved SIGGRAPH Fast Forward model.  A staple of the technical papers community and a highlight of the conference every year, this fast and fun forum provides a high level sampling of each paper being presented that week.

By inviting our Exhibitors to feature their highlights in a similar forum, a few seconds per presenter, we are connecting our attendees very quickly with information that will help them direct their focus on the show floor and, we are allowing our Exhibitors the opportunity to have the  undivided attention of the attendees. We are also excited to integrate the feedback we received directly from our attendees last year into programs this year.

Our teams turned around the survey data quickly and we are focusing on what our attendees told us was of the highest priority to them, as well as of most interest.  In particular, our attendees will enjoy more hands-on training. Our Studio Chair, Patricia Clark from Arizona State University, is partnering with industry and her subcommittee to offer full slates of workshops that allow us to serve a larger percentage of our audience than we have in the past with directly transferable skill sets.

How do you define SIGGRAPH’s target audience?

Our audience are key stakeholders in the community, those driving research and business forward for the past 40 years.  The respect between our contributors and attendees is mutual, and a fluid relationship that has the target audience moving between attendee and content creator from year to year, or even minute to minute. For the 2013 conference, I am defining our target audience as one that is purposely engaged with each other. From our Educators and Artists, to Researchers, Students, Production Professionals and Business teams, our audiences do not live in silos, they actively engage across disciplines and the end result has been our staple for success from year to year.

What characteristics/backgrounds were you looking for when selecting your 2013 conference committee?
I was looking for a team that had very specific ideas about how they wanted their individual venues to develop  as well as a passion for the conference and organization as  whole. And then I stood back and let them do it!  The team is highly interested in not just their venue or year, but in laying the foundation for ideas that will take a while to fully develop.  They partnered really well with the years on either side of them, for a future bigger than just any one team could pull off.  I was also looking for a diverse set of volunteers who could all contribute from not just their area of subject matter expertise, but also from different communities, life experiences, and history with the conference itself.

Editorial note: to view the committee, click here.

What advice would you give someone who has never been to SIGGRAPH before? 

SIGGRAPH is a glorious amalgamation of high quality content across several slices of the computer graphics and interactive communities. It can be intimidating to try and sort through all the offerings we have.  A plan of action is always your friend.

We will continue to provide suggestions based upon a particular focus area, with our teams poring through all of the accepted content and preparing suggested sessions and content for gaming, animation, research, education, etc.   Often, the most rewarding experiences for our attendees are when they venture off their presumed path.

I highly encourage participation in offerings that may not directly align your areas of interest, these intersections are where our unique magic most often lives.  Also, plan a lot longer for walking from point A to point B than you presume you need, and be prepared to say "Hi!" to strangers.  The intersection of people is one of our highest values, and you want to be sure to allow these intersections and opportunities to thrive. You will be delighted at how easy barriers to conversation and ideation fall away during SIGGRAPH, especially if you go after it.

As an industry expert and long-time SIGGRAPH volunteer, what keeps you professionally motivated? 
I get to work with some really amazing people; smart, fun, inspiring, accomplished, mentors, mentees, from all over the world. It’s a uniquely collaborative culture that allows not just technologies to be shared, but also allows people to easily share their expertise and time with each other.  The thrill of these intersections makes every day motivating, different, and challenges me to give back as much as I have been given.

SIGGRAPH 2013 Seeking Mobile Content

SIGGRAPH Mobile also features an interactive area where attendees can investigate mobile technologies.

Mobile graphics is growing at an incredible speed. Only a few years ago, mobile devices were so limited in display capabilities and processing power they were hardly considered a viable platform for computer graphics. Today, smartphones, tablets, and handheld gaming devices with powerful graphics hardware can easily run advanced games, productivity apps, and multimedia presentations on large full-color screens.

"The mobile devices in our pockets keep us connected to our friends, entertain us whenever we have a spare minute, and help us find information when we most need it," said Lars Erik Holmquist, SIGGRAPH 2013 Mobile chair from Yahoo! Labs. "And they pack in additional features such as cameras, sensors and location awareness that make the possibilities for new graphics experiences practically endless."

SIGGRAPH Mobile will feature a variety of activities during a full day of SIGGRAPH 2013 in Anaheim and is looking for the best content from all types of participants including industry, media, art, academia, and more. Like many SIGGRAPH programs, it is jury-reviewed to ensure the best quality experience for participants and presenters. There are many different formats for presentation - from single-speaker sessions to full-blown workshops and presentations.  The deadline for content is 17 March 2013.

"At SIGGRAPH Mobile, we want to see the exciting things that are happening in the field of mobile graphics and apps! Come and show your newest mobile game, your amazing augmented-reality app, or your ass-kicking graphics hardware," said Holmquist. "Share experiences on mobile development and design tools, how to get to millions of users in the app stores, and how to harness the power of social networking. If it is new, useful, or just plain cool, we want to see it at SIGGRAPH 2013!"

To ensure that all types of work can be shown and discussed, there are four submission categories:
• Presentations are focused talks, typically by one speaker, on a single topic, technology or result.
• Panels are multi-speaker presentations and discussions in a particular area.
• Workshops are hands-on tutorials on current mobile technologies and tools.
• Demonstrations of the latest and greatest mobile applications, software, and hardware.

Submitters can select their presentation times and target different types of SIGGRAPH audiences.

An international jury will judge all submissions according to quality, novelty, diversity of topics, and relevance to the SIGGRAPH Mobile program. To round out the program, the jury and the chair may invite additional presentations. The jury includes Jesse Barker, ARM, Inc.; Henriette Cramer, Yahoo! Labs; Matt Jones, Swansea University; Florian Michahelles, ETH Zürich; and Mark Piszczor, Nukotoys, Inc.

For more information on submitting, click here.

Q&A with SIGGRAPH 2012 Mobile Chair Lars Erik Holmquist

The following is a brief conversation with Lars Erik Holmquist, SIGGRAPH Mobile Chair and Principal Research Scientist at Yahoo! Labs. Holmquist has led pioneering research efforts in mobile user interfaces, robotic toys, information displays, media sharing, location-based applications, and much more. 

Prior to joining Yahoo! Labs, he headed major research labs at several Swedish institutes, and was co-founder and research leader at a large research center with 45 employees and total funding of over $30 million.

Lars Erik Holmquist, SIGGRAPH Mobile Chair

How is SIGGRAPH Mobile the same and also different from the Symposium on Apps at SIGGRAPH Asia?
The SIGGRAPH Asia Symposium on Apps started last year in Hong Kong, and is a great way to showcase the applied and business side of mobile applications. For SIGGRAPH Mobile, we want  to not only retain that, but also delve deeper into what makes mobile graphics great. To this end, we have lined up exciting mobile graphics hardware and software presentations with many of the top providers and leading academics. This is a great development and gives the LA program a unique feel.

How would you briefly describe this year's content?
It has a great mix of show-stopping demos, hands-on tutorials, and cutting-edge presentations and discussions. We start early in the week with a basic "get up and running" iOS graphics tutorial and an introduction ofp the mobile web framework Cocktails and Mojito. During the main day, we have content ranging from intermediate to advanced, from a panel of some of the biggest mobile GPU vendors to presentations on how to utilize mobile graphics in settings ranging from advertisements to in-car applications.

If someone is new to the field or a passive user, why would this content still be of interest?
This program gives a "lay of the land" of the mobile graphics landscape at a level that should be accessible to most SIGGRAPH attendees. If you just want to see what is going on in the field, you can hang out in the demo area and see the some of the latest mobile hardware and software. If you want to get your hands dirty, several tutorials will give you a first taste of developing mobile graphics and apps. And if you want to know how to transform your existing SIGGRAPH knowledge into the mobile world, much of the program is dedicated to showing techniques and frameworks that can optimize that process.

Image from the Talk: Mobile Augmented Reality in Advertising

Why is it important for SIGGRAPH to have this as a content category?
From the early days, computer graphics was the domain of science and specialized industry. Today, we have reached a stage were literally everyone can carry the equivalent of a high-end workstation in their pocket. This has had an incredible impact on the accessibility and applications of computer graphics. While the dedicated server farms of the major studios and research centers will always have the edge on quality, for most people, phones and tablets are now their main contacts with games, movies, and other digital media. SIGGRAPH needed to acknowledge this change because it is where much of the future (and actually even the current) market for graphics lies.

What trends are you seeing in this industry?
We are seeing a strong trend toward powerful mobile GPUs that make it possible to develop high-quality interactive graphics (both 2D and 3D) in shorter times and with higher cross-device compatibility.  But for mobile, there are limiting factors that don't affect traditional graphics workstations, such as power consumption and heat issues. Thus vendors have to work even harder to bring out chips that provide the desired performance without draining your battery (or catching fire in your pocket!)

I also see a trend for higher resolution display, where many manufacturers are pushing the limit of how many pixels you can cram onto a screen, until we are at a stage where the detail level is beyond what the human eye can discern. When that level is reached, the industry needs to optimize other aspects of the visuals, such as color reproduction and power consumption.

Where do you see mobile graphics and devices in 3-5 years from now?
There will be a trend toward integrating mobile devices even more with the real world around us; for instance, by using sensors to pick up what the user is doing and what they plan to do. I also would like to see interfaces that bring the small screen of the mobile device out into the world, rather than it being the focus of one person's attention. Instead of wearable screens or glasses that hide our face and isolate us from others, I am excited by technologies such as projector phones, where you can project graphics on literally any surface. Mobile devices play a big role in our social life, and technology should be designed so that they bring us closer together, not further apart.

Describe an exciting project you have recently worked on at Yahoo! Research

We are working on some incredibly interesting techniques to make the real world searchable and available for information processing. Imagine if you could do a search for your lost wallet, much like you search the Internet for web pages today, and the system would tell you that you left it on the kitchen table! Or what if a store down the street could access your wardrobe and automatically recommend a tie that goes well with your shirts, much like Amazon recommends books based on your and others’ purchases? We call this hyper-personalization, and it has the potential to change how we live and interact with the physical world in the future.

What motivates you as a SIGGRAPH volunteer?
It is a great community and an exciting, vibrant conference! No other place has such a wild mix of everything from movie special effects to robots, and I learn something new every time I go.

What other SIGGRAPH content are you looking forward to experiencing outside the Mobile program?
I always love to attend the main Electronic Theater screenings - it is almost like going to a Hollywood premiere! I also make sure to check out Emerging Technologies and Art Gallery for the latest in interactive technology and installations, and attend the Technical Papers Preview to get a feel for the newest techniques in research.