Though SIGGRAPH has been held annually since 1974, this will be my first year attending the world-renowned computer graphics convention. No, I'm not some fresh-faced college student, participating in this year's events as a component of my first internship. In fact, I've been attending NAB and IBC conferences for well over 15 years.
Of those 15 years, I spent nearly a decade working with the brightest minds in visualization at a premier Finishing, Compositing, and 3D Software Development company, helping to build many of the technologies that have set the stage for today. After that, on to the largest independent creative studio on the east coast (that's Nice Shoes), where I've led a team revamping and changing technologies, workflows, and toolsets, integrating just about everything (departments, machinery, people - anything that can be integrated, we've done it) along the way.
All of which is to say, I can't believe I'm about to attend my first SIGGRAPH! The conference's allure has always been the allure of the future. It presents emerging technologies at their best and most promising. This is why I'm attending the SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies Conference, and why you should too.
I've picked out a couple of exhibits that are "must see" for me. These exhibits are just a few of the many examples of how our everyday world and creative visualization are poised to merge even more closely.
- A Colloidal Display: Membrane Screen That Combines Transparency, BRDF, and 3D Volume
- Augmented Reflection of Reality
- ClaytricSurface: An Interactive Surface With Dynamic Softness Control Capability
- HDRchitecture: Real-Time 3D HDR Imaging for Extreme Dynamic Range
- Magic Pot: Interactive Metamorphosis of the Perceived Shape
- Tavola: Holographic User Experience
Having not once attended SIGGRAPH until now, I can't wait.
Robert Keske is the CTO at Nice Shoes in NYC. The studio is a full service, artist-driven design, animation, visual effects and color grading facility specializing in high-end commercials, web content, film, TV and music videos.