Google, Facebook to discuss Virtual Reality at SIGGRAPH Asia 2016
Virtual Reality is the next frontier in computer generated imagery (CGI) and immersive environments
Paul Debevec from Google and Brian Cabral of Facebook to deliver keynote addresses
Themed “Key to the Future”, SIGGRAPH Asia 2016 explores the next frontier in computer-generated imagery (CGI) and immersive environments: Virtual Reality. Widely known for its in applications for videogames, live events and entertainment, Virtual Reality is increasingly being applied across a wide range of traditional industries including engineering, education, healthcare, the military, real estate and retail. The implications for this are enormous, as in 2016 the market for Virtual Reality hardware and content is expected to top USD1 Billion1 and to rise exponentially to $80 billion2 by 2025.
The SIGGRAPH Asia 2016 conference features the leading minds in the industry: Paul Debevec, a senior staff engineer at Google VR will deliver a keynote address, Achieving Photoreal Virtual Humans in Movies, Games and Virtual Reality; and Brian Cabral, Director of Engineering at Facebook, whose keynote is entitled VR Capture: Designing and Building an Open Source 3D-360 Video Camera.
Multiple panel sessions also take place at SIGGRAPH Asia. Two of the highlights this year include:
He’s Back! T2 25 Years Later
The Terminator 2 panel will feature the original team: Mark Dippe, Assistant Visual Effects Supervisor for T2 and Steve “Spaz” Williams, Computer Animation Supervisor for T2, as our panellists. Scott Ross,
1 Deloitte: http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/technology-media-and- telecommunications/articles/tmt-pred16-media-virtual-reality-billion-dollar-niche.html
2 Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-13/goldman-sachs-has-
four-charts-showing-the-huge-potential-in-virtual-and-augmented-reality
who was the General Manager of Industrial Light & Magic, Co-Founder of Digital Domain with James Cameron, will be moderating this panel discussion.
The Future Of Imaging
Brian Cabral moderates this panel discussion between Kurt Akeley, Chief Technology Officer, Lytro Inc; Radu B. Rusu, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Fyusion, Inc and Shen Shaojie; Chief Roboticist, Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI), who will share their past and current adventures as well as their visions for the future of the digital imaging industry.
SIGGRAPH Asia will also be hosting three Symposiums this year. Academia and industry come together at the Symposium on Education to discuss the teaching and integration of computer graphics and interactive techniques. The Symposium on Mobile Graphics and Interactive Applications explores the development, technology and marketing of mobile graphics and interactive applications; especially the novel uses of graphics and interactivity on mobile devices. The Symposium on Visualization brings to light the development, technology, and demonstration of visualization techniques and their interactive applications
Technical papers will be presented at sessions on, for example, Geometric Deep Learning, Modeling Behavior for Social Robots and Virtual Humans, Creating Virtual Environments with 3D Printing and Photogrammetry for example, alongside technical sessions for story development, optics, video development, modeling along with a wide range of subjects.
One of the most exciting parts of the program is the premier Computer Animation Festival, which brings together a collection of the year’s best, world-wide, animation works. An internationally recognized jury receives hundreds of submissions to select the most creative works of the year, which are aired over three exciting days at SIGGRAPH Asia 2016. From students’ works to professional pieces, the SIGGRAPH Asia Computer Animation Festival’s Electronic Theater runs for four screenings of two hours each during the event. The Festival Chair is Victor Wong Wang Tat from vfxNova Digital Productions Limited, Hong Kong and his Co-Chair is Shuzo John Shiota of Polygon Pictures Inc., Japan.
Also, highly sought after is the SIGGRAPH Asia Art Gallery, which showcases innovative and leading- edge digital contributions on Mediated Aesthetics from around the world. The exhibition highlights Digital Art projects that prioritize the expression of an alternative aesthetic, while employing the rich variety of techniques available to designers and artists who use computer mediation as a part of their creative palette. Mediated Aesthetics are a presentation of a combination of new media technologies, including algorithms, sensors, networking, augmented reality, biotechnology, networking and other technologies. Art evolves from the aesthetic investigation of these technologies. This program will be held off-site at the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST).
SIGGRAPH Asia 2016 will take place from 5 to 8 December 2016 at The Venetian Macao in Macao, China. For more information on SIGGRAPH Asia and its programs, please visit http://sa2016.siggraph.org/en/attendees.
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