SIGGRAPH 2014 Seeks Developer App Submissions for New "Appy Hour"

Have you been slaving over your keyboard to create the next mobile app masterpiece all on your own? Join us at the debut of the Appy Hour cocktail reception during SIGGRAPH 2014. Appy Hour is the place for independent application developers to show off their creations ... all while enjoying a drink!

In addition to libations, Appy Hour gives developers the opportunity to solicit feedback from peers, cultivate new ideas, and make important connections to help move future efforts along. Whether your app incorporates augmented reality, computational photography, image manipulation, location-based gaming, or anything else you can make mobile devices do, come show it to our audience. 

SIGGRAPH 2014 provides those selected with the following:

• A spot to set up shop with your devices
• A sign with your name, logo, and app screen-shot
• That drink we mentioned

Submit today through 17 July for the chance to display your work.

SIGGRAPH 2014 TECHNICAL PAPERS PREVIEW

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

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

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

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

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

Highlights From the SIGGRAPH 2014 Technical Papers Program:

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

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

Floating Scale Surface Reconstruction

Authors: Simon Fuhrmann, Michael Goesele, Technische Universität Darmstadt

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

PushPull++

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

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

Intrinsic Images in the Wild

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

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

Learning Bicycle Stunts

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

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

SIGGRAPH 2014 Announce Computer Animation Festival Winners

Jerome Solomon

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

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

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

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

BEST IN SHOW

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

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

JURY AWARD

Paper World (Hungary)

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

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

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Home Sweet Home (France)

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

A house uproots herself and goes on an adventure.

BEST STUDENT PROJECT

Wrapped (Germany)

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

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

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Gravity (United Kingdom)

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

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Framestore

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

BEST VISUALIZATION & SIMULATION

Kinematics (United States)

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

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

BEST GAME

The Crew (France)

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

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

BEST REAL-TIME GRAPHICS

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

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

BEST COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENT

Three, "The Pony" (United Kingdom)

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

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

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

Top 10 Ten Reasons to Stay at an Official SIGGRAPH 2014 Hotel

It's an important decision: where to sleep during SIGGRAPH 2014. If you have friends or family in Vancouver, and they're willing to host you for five or more days, that might be your best option. Your second-best option is one of the official SIGGRAPH 2014 hotels. Here's why:

10. Official hotels have been inspected and carefully selected by SIGGRAPH. They’re SIGGRAPH-endorsed. They're cool, comfortable, and convenient.

9. In the official hotels, you're closer to SIGGRAPH friends and colleagues. It's much easier to connect in real life over breakfast, lunch, coffee, drinks, or dinner.

8. Most official hotels are within walking distance of the Vancouver Convention Centre or near quick, easy transportation links.

7. You can discuss questions or concerns directly with the helpful people at SIGGRAPH 2014's official hotel desk in the convention center.

6. Booking terms are very reasonable when you use the official online reservation system: No change fees. No full prepayment.

5. The official discounted rates are guaranteed until 14 July 2014.

4. If you use other hotel-reservation systems, you have to live with their way-too-complicated terms and conditions. And if you have a reservation or room problem, SIGGRAPH 2014 can't help you negotiate with the hotel.

3. Future hotel rates and registration fees will remain reasonable, because SIGGRAPH's negotiating position with host cities and hotel companies will be stronger.

2. It's the right thing to do, for yourself, the SIGGRAPH community, and your favorite conference.

1. Save MONEY! SIGGRAPH has negotiated on your behalf to get discounted group rates so you make the weight of being a SIGGRAPH attendee work for you!

Please note that hotel rates are given in Canadian dollars ($1 US = $1.07).

Our Hotels	Our Rate	Orbitz Rate as of 6/24/14	Nightly Savings
Sheraton Vancouver WallCentre Hotel	$199	$387	$188
The Listel Hotel	$225	$305	$80
The Sutton Place Hotel	$215	$386	$171
The Westin Bayshore Hotel	$239	sold out	N/A

For more information about the official SIGGRAPH 2014 hotels, visit our website.

Begin planning your trip now! Register for SIGGRAPH 2014 to experience all that the SIGGRAPH community has to offer.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Selects Elliot Kotek, Co-Founder of Not Impossible Labs, as Keynote Speaker

Elliot Kotek

SIGGRAPH 2014 announces the selection of Elliot Kotek, co-founder of Not Impossible Labs, as the keynote speaker at SIGGRAPH 2014, the 41st International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, 10-14 August 2014 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. 

The current content chief and co-founder of Not Impossible Labs, and editor-in-chief of www.NotImpossibleNow.com, Kotek is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Beyond Cinema and the former editor-in-chief of both Moving Pictures and Celebs.com. Not Impossible Labs is comprised of thinkers and doers with a mission to transform ideas that once seemed impossible to possible.

"Elliot Kotek is an ideal keynote speaker for SIGGRAPH 2014," said Dave Shreiner, SIGGRAPH 2014 Conference Chair. “The motto of Not Impossible Labs, 'technology for the sake of humanity', is the perfect example that the SIGGRAPH community strives for in making a meaningful impact on society with their work. Not Impossible Labs' projects serve as inspiration to the thousands of researchers, artists, educators, and computer graphics professionals that gather at SIGGRAPH each year."

                       

By utilizing crowd-sourcing to crowd-solve healthcare issues, Not Impossible aims to provide low-cost and DIY solutions on an open-source platform, and to enable high-tech devices to reach people in need all over the world. Utilizing the content production strength of its founders, Not Impossible is disrupting the status quo of healthcare via compelling stories in which the one person helped inspires many to action. Not Impossible creates a sustainable cycle where collaboration inspires innovation, and where content compels further action.

Not Impossible projects include: 

• Eyewriter are eye-tracking glasses with free, open-source software that enabled a renowned graffiti artist paralyzed by ALS to draw and communicate using only his eyes. The technology was lauded in TIME’S “Top 50 Inventions of 2010,” named to Gizmodo’s Eight Incredible Health Innovations that Transform Lives, and became the subject of the award-winning documentary “Getting Up.” It also went on to win Gizmodo’s Health Invention of the Year.   

• Hot off their win at the Cannes Lion Awards 2014 for Project Daniel: 3D Printing Prosthetic Arms for Children of War-torn Sudan, Not Impossible Labs was honored with a Cannes Titanium Lion, a Gold Lion in Product Design and a Bronze Lion in Branded Content & Entertainment.  Other awards for Project Daniel include: Curator’s Recognition and the Next Cause Marketing award at AICP, two gold pencils at the One Show Awards (including tying for Best In Show for Design), a Silver Telly and a Bronze Telly, and the Maker Faire Editor’s Choice Blue Ribbon for creativity, ingenuity, and innovation. 

• The Brainwriter is a personal EEG device, available for only $200, that operates a computer mouse or gaming console, and creates a seamless interface between brain and machine. Brainwriter will enable people suffering from any kind of neuromuscular syndrome to continue to write and draw as their condition worsens. EEG technology has been around for a while, and while there are already several companies creating personal brain-computer interfaces, they range in price from $800 to $2,000 and are not open-source. The Brainwriter is being launched as part of the Digital Revolution Exhibition at Barbican in London on 3 July 2014.

A former M&A/Biotech Venture Capital attorney in Australia and New York, Kotek holds a Law Degree, a BS in Pharmacology & Toxicology, studied at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and completed UCLA’s Professional Program in Screenwriting. He’s become a recognizable figure in taking stories based in the sphere of science and technology, and ensuring that they are not only accessible, but that they serve to inspire. 

The feature documentary “140", which Kotek co-produced, is the first ever user-generated film made utilizing social media. ”Little Larry,” which Elliot wrote, received a Directors Guild of Canada nomination, and his current productions include the documentaries “Queen Mimi” with Zach Galifianakis and “The People Sign,” which highlights the work of music interpreters for the hearing impaired.

SIGGRAPH 2014 Posts Studio Preview Video

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

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

SIGGRAPH 2014 Registration Now Open!

It's Time to Register!

SIGGRAPH 2014 is returning to Vancouver this summer and we can't wait to see you there! Register now and meet us at the Vancouver Convention Centre 10-14 August for the Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques event of the year. Where else can you interact with the best and brightest in art, science, and technology?

SIGGRAPH 2014 Registration Categories 

Full Conference Access Pass*
Includes admission to ALL conference programs and events, including the Art Gallery, Art Papers, Awards Presentation, Birds of a Feather, Computer Animation Festival-Daytime Selects, Computer Animation Festival-Electronic Theater, Courses, Dailies, Emerging Technologies, Exhibition, Exhibitor Tech Talks, Exhibits Fast Forward, International Resources, Job Fair, Keynote Sessions, Panels, Posters, Production Sessions, Real-Time Live!, Reception, Studio, Talks, Technical Papers, and Technical Papers Fast Forward.

*Note: The Full Conference Access Pass is the only pass that allows access to Courses, Panels, Technical Papers, Talks, and the Reception.

Full Conference One-Day Pass
Includes one day admission to ALL conference programs and events and the Exhibition (Tuesday - Thursday). Does not include reception ticket.

Select Conference Pass
Includes admission to the Art Gallery, Art Papers, Awards Presentation, Birds of a Feather, Computer Animation Festival-Daytime Selects, Computer Animation Festival-Electronic Theater, Dailies, Emerging Technologies, Exhibitor Tech Talks, Exhibits Fast Forward, International Resources, Job Fair, Keynote Sessions, Posters, Production Sessions, Real-Time Live!, Studio, Technical Papers Fast Forward, and all days of the Exhibition (Tuesday – Thursday). Does not include reception ticket.

Select Conference One Day Pass
Includes one day admission to the Art Gallery, Awards Presentation, Birds of a Feather, Computer Animation Festival-Daytime Selects, Computer Animation Festival-Electronic Theater, Dailies, Emerging Technologies, Exhibitor Tech Talks, Exhibits Fast Forward, International Resources, Job Fair, Keynote Sessions, Posters, Production Sessions, Real-Time Live!, Studio, Technical Papers Fast Forward, and all days of the Exhibition (Tuesday – Thursday). Does not include reception ticket.

Exhibits Plus Pass
Includes admission to the Art Gallery, Birds of a Feather, Emerging Technologies, Exhibitor Tech Talks, Exhibits Fast Forward, Job Fair, Posters, Studio, Technical Papers Fast Forward, and the Exhibition (Tuesday - Thursday). Does not include Electronic Theater or reception ticket.

To secure your spot at SIGGRAPH 2014 in Vancouver as well as for more registration information, visit the SIGGRAPH 2014 website.