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.

You Are Going Where?

Many who are on the outside of SIGGRAPH 2013 looking in may now be asking you the question, "Where are you going for the next week?"  Well, here's a simple landing page you can send them with the following text:

"I'm going to a convergence place where some of the most brilliant and thought-provoking minds on this planet come together for five days of mind-blowing sessions, events, and activities.  It's basically a year squeezed into less than a week.  And, oh yeah, by the way, they actually make insanely brilliant, delightful, incredible content like this:"

Now, they still may not totally understand where you are going, but they will be jealous.  For those that are SIGGRAPH veterans: safe travels, sleep on the plane, and see you soon.  For those that are coming and are new to SIGGRAPH, be sure to attend this or stop by the SIGGRAPH 2014 booth for advice or ask a student volunteer (look for the "Ask Me" button).

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 2013 Announces Evening Experiences

A typical SIGGRAPH conference day never ends at 5pm. Anaheim at dusk pictured above.

So..... planning to rest in the evening after a mad day of SIGGRAPH-awesomeness?  Not bloody likely!  SIGGRAPH has expanded its evening offerings to keep your conference value growing and pack even more into an already incredible experience.

Announcing the SIGGRAPH Evening Experiences for 2013:

Technical Papers Fast Forward
Sunday, 21 July, 6-8 pm, Hall A
 #siggraph #techpapers

Entertaining 30-second summaries of the world’s most advanced research in computer graphics and interactive techniques, including super-realistic depictions of complex phenomena, futuristic 3D printing technologies, and real-time navigation of medical and scientific data. Authors entice attendees to hear their complete paper presentations later in the week.

Registration Level:
F Full Conference
S Select Conference

Computer Animation Festival
Monday, 22 July-Wednesday, 24 July, 6-8 pm, Arena
Thursday, 25 July, 10:45 pm-12:30 am, Arena
#siggraph #caf

An eclectic mix of this year’s finest achievements in animation, visual effects, and visualization. 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.

Registration Level:
F Full Conference
S Select Conference

Real-Time Live!
Tuesday, 23 July, 5:30-7 pm, Hall A
#siggraph #realtime

Powerful demos of extremely complex, interactive, real-time sequences from games and scientific visualizations, created by Beautypi; Epic Games, Inc.; NVIDIA Corporation; Square Enix Co., Ltd; Unity Technologies, and others. Each demo is presented live on a computer or game console by the artists, engineers, designers, and technical directors who developed the project.

Registration Level:
F Full Conference
S Select Conference

Dailies
Wednesday, 24 July, 6-8 pm, Room 304 A-D
#siggraph #dailies

Animators share their recent achievements, frustrations, creative breakthroughs, and technical solutions in an evening of 45 fascinating, 90-second, behind-the-scene stories about the production process at major studios (including Blizzard Entertainment, DreamWorks Animation, Naughty Dog Inc., Pixar Animation Studios, Tippett Studio) and academic labs.

Registration Level:
F Full Conference
S Select Conference

SPECIAL EVENTS:


Characterized@SIGGRAPH
Tuesday, 23 July, 8-10 pm, Hall A

Cut&Paste brings the CHARACTERIZED Tour to SIGGRAPH 2013. Presented by HP, CHARACTERIZED @ SIGGRAPH is a design competition focused on character creation, technique, and intent. Three teams throw down in rapid, live onstage rounds, revealing their digital design process and original character artistry. It's a dynamic mashup of character designers in Cut&Paste's experimental team format.

Registration Level:
F Full Conference
S Select Conference
E+ Exhibits Plus

SIGGRAPH After Dark
Wednesday, 24 July, 8-12:30 am, Grand Plaza

Famous movies in the Grand Plaza at SIGGRAPH? Fabulous idea!

Two blockbuster films, "Toy Story" and "Jurassic Park", in an after-dark film show on a giant outdoor screen is a great way to end your day at SIGGRAPH 2013. Visual treats, audience participation, and good conversation with friends old and new.

Open to All

SIGGRAPH Mobile App & Scheduler Now Available

Maximize and customize your experience at SIGGRAPH 2013 with our mobile app and scheduler. Personalize your schedule, connect with other attendees, find exhibitors, investigate job fair participants, and more!  Use your phone, tablet, or internet browser to:

• See other attendees who are coming to SIGGRAPH 2013.
• Review the agenda and speakers, and create a personalized schedule.
• Connect with other attendees by sending messages and setting up 1-on-1 meetings (while keeping your email private).
• Find exhibitors and review their profiles before you even get onsite.
• Provide feedback for each session you attend.

"It is great to offer a platform that should absolutely enhance the SIGGRAPH experience from both a networking and planning perspective," said Mk Haley, SIGGRAPH 2013 Conference Chair from Disney Research. "We listened intently to our audience's wishes for a platform of this nature and we are excited to have delivered this customized version in time for the 2013 conference."

Shortly after you register for SIGGRAPH 2013, an account to access all of the features of the mobile app will be created for you.  You will then receive an email with a link to activate your account. Or, click here and go to "Log In". To set up a personalized account, use your Registration ID as your username and your last name plus “2013” as your password:

Username: Registration ID
Password:  LastName2013 (all lowercase)

Why create an account? To personalize your event schedule, request meetings with others, access real-time event information, and more!

Please note that the App system may not recognize you immediately after registering for SIGGRAPH due to the time required to transfer your data. For assistance with the app, contact support@zerista.com

Also after the conference ends, be sure to complete the post-conference survey with any suggestions that you have for next year's SIGGRAPH mobile app and scheduler.

SIGGRAPH Conference Chair Offers Her Top 10 Tips for Tackling SIGGRAPH

The Anaheim Convention Center at dusk.

Mk Haley - SIGGRAPH 2013 Conference Chair

New to SIGGRAPH or just need a refresher on how to best go about tackling the enormous breadth of the SIGGRAPH experience?  Read Mk Haley’s pointers on how to go about getting the most out of your conference experience.  She is after all an expert …  this will be her 25th SIGGRAPH.

1. Plan ahead – use the Schedule at a Glance page to help try and prioritize your days in Anaheim.
2. Try to stay for more than a day – otherwise, trying to pack in the full SIGGRAPH experience in just one day can be maddening.
3. Don’t be shy – one of SIGGRAPH’s huge strengths is its welcoming and friendly people.  You meet people at SIGGRAPH that literally will change your life.
4. If you are completely new to SIGGRAPH be sure to attend the first-time attendee Birds of a Feather Session: Ready, Steady, SIGGRAPH!, Sunday, 21 July 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM, Anaheim Convention Center - Room 201 C
5. If you really, really, really want to get into a session, GET THERE EARLY.  Due to fire codes we are only permitted to allow a certain number of bodies in every room, so if you arrive only a few minutes early, you may not get in.
6. When in doubt, ask a volunteer.  You can always find volunteers around the SIGGRAPH 2014 booth that are anxious and eager to help out.  Pop by the booth for advice or just to chat about your favorite SIGGRAPH experiences.  Or you will find our wonderful student volunteers spread throughout the convention center.  They will all be wearing red t-shirts with “Ask Me” buttons on them.
7. Explore SIGGRAPH People - Add yourself to the gallery of SIGGRAPH People and browse and discover other SIGGRAPH attendees who will be in Anaheim.
8. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a light jacket and a hunger for everything that is awesome.
9. Collaborate with other attendees – whether that is in the Studio, at networking events, or anywhere else that people gather together during the week.
10. Get the new SIGGRAPH App to help you maximize your time onsite – it includes session feedback features, schedules, maps, exhibitor info, and an ability to connect with other attendees. Only registered attendees get full access to the content, scheduling and networking features of the app. Over the next few days, registered attendees should receive an e-mail message with a unique url to set up their profiles and begin using the app.  Questions about the app can be directed to the app provider, Zerista via email: support@zerista.com

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.