SIGGRAPH 2014 Highlights from Vancouver

SIGGRAPH Technical Papers Fast Forward was a popular session on Sunday evening.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - SIGGRAPH 2014 returned to Vancouver, Canada, for its 41st conference and exhibition. From 10-14 August, 14,045 artists, research scientists, gaming experts and developers, filmmakers, students, and academics from 50 U.S. states and 75 countries gathered to experience cutting-edge computer graphics and interactive techniques. There were 6,156 participants from the host country of Canada.

The SIGGRAPH Exhibition ran from 12-14 August and attracted 175 exhibitors.

The conference boasted more than 40,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space featuring 175 participating companies - an increase from the 2013 conference in Anaheim, California. Eighteen countries were represented on the exhibit floor, 44% of which are based outside of the U.S. - including 28 companies from Canada. Furthermore, 25% of the exhibitors were first-timers, which was the highest percentage in four years.

Dave Shreiner

"This year’s exceptional education, numerous networking opportunities, and mind-blowing technological advances appealed to everyone," said Dave Shreiner, SIGGRAPH 2014 Conference Chair. "SIGGRAPH 2014 offered an incredible exhibition experience, innovative and inspiring content, and celebrated the impact that graphics and technology can have in every day life. Finally, the city of Vancouver was amazing - from the mayor’s office to the convention centre to the economic commission to the tourism bureau."

An impressive 1,533 speakers and contributors participated in the conference through a variety of talks, sessions, panels, papers, presentations, tutorials, and screenings.

Highlights from SIGGRAPH 2014 included:

The impactful keynote presentation by Not Impossible Labs co-founder Elliot Kotek shared a simple message: “Help One. Help Many.” Kotek showed how technology can have an immense impact on humanity by sharing stories of Not Impossible Labs’ efforts including Project Daniel, which outfitted Sudanese amputees with new prosthetic limbs thanks to 3D printing technology. 

Thierry Frey (center), SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies Chair, leads the Vancouver mayor on a tour.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson made an appearance, addressing members of the press and visiting SIGGRAPH 2014’s Emerging Technologies venue. He expressed his delight that emerging technologies and computer graphics have caused "an influx of talent and great people to our city" as well as thousands of jobs for its citizens. The Vancouver Economic Council sponsored the Emerging Technologies area. The virtual reality experience “Birdly” won the Laval Virtual award and the AR/VR competition.

Jerome Solomon served as the 2014 Computer Animation Festival Director.

The Computer Animation Festival presented the world's most innovative, accomplished, and amazing creators of digital gaming, film, and video. The festival received more than 450 juried submissions in 2014. SIGGRAPH 2014 Computer Animation Festival award winners included:

Box

BEST IN SHOW AWARD
Box (United States)

Directed Tarik Abdel-Gawad, Bot & Dolly

Paper World

JURY AWARD 

Paper World (Hungary)

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

Home Sweet Home

BEST ANIMATED SHORT 

Home Sweet Home (France)

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

Wrapped

BEST STUDENT PROJECT PRIZE

Wrapped (Germany)

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

Gravity

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Gravity (United Kingdom)

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Esperanto Filmoj

Kinematics

BEST VISUALIZATION & SIMULATION

Kinematics (United States)

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

The Crew

BEST GAME

The Crew (France)

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

RYSE: Son of Rome

BEST REAL-TIME GRAPHICS

RYSE: Son of Rome (Germany)

Directed by Chris Evans, Peter Gornstein, Martin L’Heureux, Crytek

The Pony

BEST COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENT

Three, "The Pony" (United Kingdom)

Directed by Dougal Wilson, Blink Productions

SIGGRAPH 2014 Technical Papers Chair Adam Finkelstein  

Technical Papers is the premier global forum for presenting groundbreaking research from today's leading experts. The SIGGRAPH 2014 Technical Papers program featured 173 Technical Papers, selected among 550 submissions. The Technical Papers detailed new advances across many fronts, including 3D printing, creating water and snow with particles, deformation and distortion, and more.

For more details about SIGGRAPH 2014, visit the official SIGGRAPH 2014 Media Blog: http://siggraphmediablog.blogspot.ca/  

Download photos from SIGGRAPH 2014: www.flickr.com/photos/siggraphconferences/ 

Join Us in Los Angeles in 2015


SIGGRAPH 2015, the 42nd International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, will be held 9-13 August, 2015 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Emerging Technologies Media Tour

Click here to take the Media Tour.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Emerging Technologies Chair Thierry Frey (center in lavender shirt) takes you on a tour of this year's advancements in several fields - from displays and virtual reality technology to haptics and robotics, as well as innovations that apply to film and game production. The Vancouver Economic Commission is the official sponsor of the 2014 Emerging Technologies area.

SIGGRAPH 2014 to Demo Latest Real-Time Advancements

Destruction Sequences in "Call of Duty: Ghosts" (see below for description)

The SIGGRAPH 2014 Real-Time Live! program will present a 90-minute show of the most cutting-edge real-time work from the past year. Real-Time Live! is part of the Computer Animation Festival and is the premier showcase for the latest trends and techniques for pushing the boundaries of interactive visuals.

"For one night only, SIGGRAPH attendees will enjoy a unique and fast-paced display of the most innovative real-time techniques for interactive systems and computer graphics,” said Nicolas Gonzalez, SIGGRAPH 2014 Real-Time Live! Chair from Deloitte Consulting. "Our international jury truly outdid itself as this year's show is mind-boggling with fascinating advancements that we cannot wait to show off."

The 2014 Real-Time Live! program will take place on Tuesday, 12 August at 5:30 p.m. PST in the West Building of the Vancouver Convention Centre. Each live presentation lasts less than 10 minutes and is presented by the original artists and engineers. As an added bonus, the 2014 Real-Time Live! program includes presentations from the Augmented/Virtual Reality Contest finalists, a brand-new conference event.

For more information on Real-Time Live! and the Augmented/Virtual Reality Contest, visit s2014.siggraph.org. Tickets to Real-Time Live! are available at the Full and Select Conference registration levels and start at $230 USD.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Real-Time Live! Highlights:

Destruction Sequences in "Call of Duty: Ghosts"
Presenters: David Johnson, Alessandro Nardini, Infinity Ward

In an effort to raise the bar for destruction sequences in a real-time game engine, non-localized particles, "instant pop," low density, generic fracturing, and more were identified and addressed through several artistic techniques and technical advancements for "Call of Duty: Ghosts".

NVIDIA FlameWorks: Real-Time Fire Simulation
Presenters: Simon Green, Nuttapong Chentanez, Aron Zoellner, Johnny Costello, Kevin Newkirk, Dane Johnston, NVIDIA Corporation

FlameWorks is the first system to bring cinema-quality volumetric fire, smoke, and explosion effects to real-time graphics. The demo simulates and renders more than 32 million voxels per frame, at around 30 frames per second.

Real-Time Animation of Cartoon Character Faces
Presenters: Emiliano Gambaretto, Charles Piña, Mixamo, Inc.

This live demo allows a viewer to stand in front of a webcam and animate a 3D character in real time. The video stream is processed by Mixamo Face Plus proprietary technology, the facial expression of the user is extracted, and the emotional facial information is transferred to the 3D character.

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.

AR/VR Contest Deadline Extended to 25 June - DK2s Added as Prizes

A scene from last year's Real-Time Live!

SIGGRAPH 2014 is conducting an augmented reality - virtual reality contest in order to showcase the best augmented/virtual reality experiences to date.  The contest is open to anyone interested in augmented/virtual reality: researchers, students, hobbyists, and professionals. Contestants can use any software and hardware they choose.

Up to three finalists will be selected to demonstrate their technology at SIGGRAPH 2014, during Real-Time Live! The winning team will then be announced from the Real-Time Live stage!

All finalists will also have the opportunity to demonstrate their system to attendees during SIGGRAPH 2014's new networking event "Appy Hour," Wednesday, 13 August, 5:30-7:30 pm.

Oculus VR is on board to provide DK2s to the top-three finalists, with one of them being signed for the grand prize. The DK2 is the latest development kit for the Oculus Rift that allows developers to build amazing games and experiences for the consumer Oculus Rift. 

The new deadline to submit is 25 June 2014.

For more information and to submit your work to the contest, click here.

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.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Announces New Augmented Reality - Virtual Reality Contest

A scene from last year's Real-Time Live!

SIGGRAPH 2014 is conducting an augmented reality - virtual reality contest in order to showcase the best augmented/virtual reality experiences to date.  The contest is open to anyone interested in augmented/virtual reality: researchers, students, hobbyists, and professionals. Contestants can use any software and hardware they choose.

Up to three finalists will be selected to demonstrate their technology at SIGGRAPH 2014, during Real-Time Live! The winning team will then be announced from the Real-Time Live stage!

All finalists will also have the opportunity to demonstrate their system to attendees during SIGGRAPH 2014's new networking event "Appy Hour," Wednesday, 13 August, 5:30-7:30 pm.

The deadline to submit is 20 June 2014.

For more information and to submit your work to the contest, click here.

Take A Tour of the SIGGRAPH 2013 Emerging Technologies

SIGGRAPH 2013 Emerging Technologies Producer, Kristy Pron, takes you on a tour of this year's innovative advancements in several fields from displays and input devices to collaborative environments and robotics, as well as technologies that apply to film and game production.

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 2011 Exhibition Experiencing Dramatic Growth in International Participation

The SIGGRAPH 2011 Exhibition is shaping up to be diverse in both in international (exhibitors from outside the U.S.A.) participation and first-time SIGGRAPH exhibitors at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

SIGGRAPH 2011 is currently running 45% ahead of last year in terms of overall international exhibitors. Specifically there are already 64 international exhibitors committed this year vs. 44 at this point in time last year. Canada, UK, France, Japan, Korea, and China represent the majority.



A vast majority of the *first-time* exhibitors are based internationally. Of the 29 first-timers registered for 2011, 25 are located outside the United States, representing seven countries. In 2010, only 13 had committed to exhibit last year at this point in time.



“We are very pleased with the results from our efforts,” said Mike Weil, SIGGRAPH Exhibits Manager, “First-time exhibitors are important because they often bring new technology and innovation to the industry. In addition to our long-time and important exhibitors, the show will also be filled with many new, and to a greater extent non-U.S. based organizations. And we are not done adding more companies to the show.”

(Pictured left: Mike Weil, SIGGRAPH Exhibits Manager since 1992.)
According to Weil, by more than doubling the number of first-time exhibitors as compared to last year, attendees will be exposed to new organizations they have never seen or heard of before. This sometimes even leads to collaboration amongst participating exhibitors and new possibilities are uncovered on the tradeshow floor. Weil attributes some of the success this year to key assistance by Canadian partners as well as the strength of the conference program and the surging energy in the computer graphics industry in Vancouver and across the globe.

The current list of SIGGRAPH exhibitors is available here.