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SIGGRAPH 98 History Project

Vol.32 No.3 August 1998
ACM SIGGRAPH

The SIGGRAPH 98 Time Tunnel



Carl Machover
SIGGRAPH 98 History Chair

The Time Tunnel, conceived by SIGGRAPH 98 Chair Walt Bransford, is a centerpiece of the history celebration and chronicles 25 years of SIGGRAPH conferences and computer graphics. This 100 foot long by 30 foot wide “time tunnel” thru which SIGGRAPH 98 attendees can stroll includes artifacts and memorabilia from 1974 to 1998 and shows the influence the technology has made on our world. The principal material included in the tunnel is listed below, by year.

Memorabilia in the Time Tunnel includes publications and artifacts from 25 years of SIGGRAPH conferences including proceedings, course notes, programs, registration badges, pins, buttons, ribbons, T-shirts, posters, promotional items, party favors and items from first-time and one-time-only conference events such as the I-MAX film.

Student volunteers will act as docents for the exhibit.

1974
  • The First SIGGRAPH Conference – Boulder, Colorado
  • 600 attendees
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 540 million
  • New York Institute of Technology establishes its Computer Graphics Lab and appoints Ed Catmull director.
  • Xerox PARC researchers create Alto, the first computer to use a WIMP interface.
  • Charles Simonyi, Xerox PARC, writes BRAVO, the first WYSIWYG application.
  • The Altair 8800 microcomputer, based on Intel’s 8080 processor interface, uses toggle switches and LCDs.
  • At the University of Utah, Frederick Parke produces the first speech-synchronized, computer-generated facial animations.
  • Myron Krueger formulates Videoplace, a shared digital environment.
  • Sutherland, Sproull, and Shumake publish a classic computer graphics paper: "A Characterization of Ten Hidden Surface Algorithms.”
  • The President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, resigns under threat of impeachment. The new president, Gerald R. Ford, pardons Nixon for all crimes he might have committed while in office.
  • SIGGRAPH 74 Chair – Robert L. Schiffman
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Robert Dunn
    U.S. Army Electronics Command

    • 1975
  • SIGGRAPH 75 – Bowling Green, Ohio
  • 300 attendees
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 830 millio
  • Martin Newell develops the Utah teapot, the venerable icon of computer graphics.
  • Ed Roberts and Bill Yates design and market the Altair 8800 computer kit.
  • Culminating 20 years of research, Benoit Mandelbrot publishes “A Theory of Fractal Sets.”
  • Fred Brooks publishes Mythical Man Month.
  • Viking I transmits the first images from Mars.
  • SIGGRAPH 75 Chair – D.L. Fulton
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Robert Dunn
    U.S. Army Electronics Command

    • 1976
  • SIGGRAPH 76 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 300 attendees
  • The first SIGGRAPH exhibition: 10 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 1,000 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 1.1 billion
  • The first finite-element modeling programs and the first color printers are introduced at SIGGRAPH 76.
  • New York: the National Computer Conference hosts an international computer art exhibition.
  • A team led by John Whitney Jr. and Gary Demos, at III, create a Blockpix running sequence for “Westworld.”
  • Frank Crow publishes his doctoral thesis on solving the aliasing problem in computer-generated images.
  • Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs build the first Apple computers in a garage. Retail price: $666.66.
  • Bill Gates drops out of Harvard and founds Microsoft with Paul Allen.
  • SIGGRAPH 76 Chair – Thomas H. Johnson
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Robin Williams
    IBM

    • 1977
  • SIGGRAPH 77 – San Jose, California
  • 750 attendees
  • 38 exhibitors
  • exhibit space: 10,000 square feet (est.)
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 1.5 billion
  • The first color raster displays are introduced at SIGGRAPH 77.
  • Jim Blinn develops image and texture mapping.
  • The CORE interactive computer graphics standard is published by ACM.
  • Computer Graphics World begins publication.
  • Jack Bresenham publishes "A Linear Algorithm for Incremental Digital Display of Circular Arcs" (CACM).
  • The first Apple IIs roll off the assembly line.
  • Nintendo enters the home video market with a variation on Pong.
  • “Star Wars,” the biggest hit in motion picture history, includes a small insert screen computer-animated by Larry Cuba.
  • Digital Equipment Corporation introduces the VAX, a 32-bit minicomputer with a 16-gbyte address space.
  • SIGGRAPH 77 Chair – Steve Levine
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Robin Williams
    IBM

    • 1978
  • SIGGRAPH 78 – Atlanta, Georgia
  • 1,500 (est.) attendees
  • 44 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 12,000 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 2 billion
  • Richard Weinberg reports on the classic sumulation of the space shuttle using Evans & Sutherland hardware.
  • VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet, is introduced by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston.
  • Intel introduces its first 16-bit processor, the 8086.
  • C and UNIX are published by Bell Laboratories.
  • LeRoy Neiman demonstrates New York Institute of Technology's paint program during the Superbowl.
  • November 1: the Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 35.34, the largest single-day advance in history.
  • SIGGRAPH 78 Chair – S.H. Chasen
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – James George
    Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

    • 1979
  • SIGGRAPH 79 – Chicago, Illinois
  • 3,000 (est.) attendees
  • 79 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 25,000 (est.) square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 23 billion
  • At SIGGRAPH 79, the final CORE report is presented.
  • At SIGGRAPH 79, Turner Whitted presents his classic work on ray tracing.
  • Steven Anson Coons, early computer graphics pioneer, dies.
  • IBM sells 10,000 of its newly introduced 3279 color terminal in nine months.
  • George Lucas asks Ed Catmull to head a new computer graphics division of Lucasfilm.
  • Steve Jobs sees the Xerox PARC graphical user interface for the first time.
  • SIGGRAPH 79 Co-Chairs – Tom DeFanti and Bruce McCormick
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – James George
    Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

    • 1980
  • SIGGRAPH 80 – Seattle, Washington
  • 7,500 attendees
  • 80 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 26,300 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 2.8 billion
  • "Vol Libre," a filmed high-speed flight through fractal mountains, produced by Loren Carpenter, amazes the crowd at SIGGRAPH 80.
  • Tom DeFanti publishes the first SIGGRAPH Video Review.
  • IBM selects MS/DOS from Microsoft as the operating system for its new personal computer.
  • Xerox introduces Ethernet.
  • John Lennon is assassinated in New York.
  • SIGGRAPH 80 Co-Chairs – Robert A. Ellis and Harvey Z. Kriloff
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – James George
    Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

    • 1981
  • SIGGRAPH 81 – Dallas, Texas
  • 14,000 attendees
  • 124 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 40,560 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 4 billion
  • NAMCO introduces Pac-man.
  • Nintendo introduces Donkey Kong and Mario becomes the first video-game superstar.
  • IBM introduces the PC.
  • Nelson Max shows water ripples in “Carla's Island” animation.
  • Ted Nelson explains hypertext in his new book: Literary Machines.
  • Rob Cook and Ken Torrance introduce a new realistic shading algorithm.
  • Loren Carpenter writes REYES (Renders Everything You Ever Saw), the precursor of Renderman.
  • Michael Potmesil and Indranil Chakravarty demonstrate realistic depth of field rendering.
  • Muhammad Ali retires from boxing with a record of 56 victories and five defeats.
  • SIGGRAPH 81 Co-Chairs – Doug Green and Tomy Lucido
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – James George
    Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

    • 1982
  • SIGGRAPH 82 – Boston, Massachusetts
  • 17,000 attendees
  • 172 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 53,795 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 5 billion
  • Pat Cole conceives the SIGGRAPH awards program
  • Computer graphics entreprenuers establish four new companies:
    • Silicon Graphics, Inc.
    • Autodesk, Inc.
    • Adobe Systems Incorporated
    • Sun Microsystems. Inc.
  • James Foley and Andries van Dam publish Fundamentals of Interactive Computer Graphics.
  • Tom Brigham of NYIT introduces morphing to the SIGGRAPH 82 Electronic Theater audience.
  • Computer-generated human motion appears for the first time on television: a saint animated by Rebecca Allen for Twyla Tharp’s “The Catherine Wheel”, on PBS, CBS, and the BBC.
  • Yoichiro Kawaguchi demonstrates classic animations based on "Morphological Study of the Form of Nature.”
  • Bill Reeves of Lucasfilm produces the Genesis effect for "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn."
  • Four young visual effects companies help Disney produce “TRON,” the first feature film to make extensive use of 3D computer graphics: III, Robert Abel Associates, MAGI, and Digital Effects.
  • The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.
  • SIGGRAPH 82 Chair – Elaine Sonderegger
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Tom DeFanti
    University of Illinois at Chicago

    • 1983
  • SIGGRAPH 83 – Detroit, Michigan
  • 14,000 attendees
  • 195 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 68,575 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 6.7 billion
  • First SIGGRAPH papers on creating motion blur in computer-generated images
  • Silicon Graphics introduces its first system: the IRIS 1000 graphics workstation.
  • Apple Computer introduces Lisa, a new computer that features a mouse, icons, and pull-down menus.
  • Autodesk introduces the first CAD system for IBM PCs.
  • A meter is officially redefined as the distance that light travels in 0.299,792,458 seconds.
  • SIGGRAPH 83 Co-Chairs – Kellogg Booth and John Beatty
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Tom DeFanti
    University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award –
    James F. Blinn
  • Steven A. Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Creative Graphics – Ivan E. Sutherland

    • 1984
  • SIGGRAPH 84 – Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • 20,390 attendees
  • 218 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 72,990 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $9 billion
  • Lucasfilm shows "Andre and Wally B.," an animation that demonstrates motion blur.
  • Rob Cook demonstrates distributive ray tracing to create many special effects.
  • Apple introduces the Macintosh with a revolutionary Super Bowl TV ad.
  • MIT begins X-windows graphical user interface design.
  • Dunn and Matrix introduce low-cost film recorders for PCs.
  • Bill Kovacks founds Wavefront and releases the first commerically available 3D animation system for common computer systems.
  • West Indies cricket phenomenon Viv Richards scores 189 not out against England, the highest-ever innings in a limited-overs international match.
  • SIGGRAPH 84 Co-Chairs – Richard M. Meuller and Richard A. Weinberg
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Tom DeFanti
    University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award –
    James H. Clark

    • 1985
  • SIGGRAPH 85 – San Francisco, California
  • 27,000 attendees
  • 254 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 79,200 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 12.2 billion
  • Ken Shoemake introduces the use of quarternions in animation.
  • Henry Fuchs, et al., present the Pixel Plane architecture for distributive computer graphics.
  • Jaron Lanier and Jean-Jacques Grimaud establish VPL Research.
  • Commodore introduces the AMIGA, a flexible personal computer with broadcast video quality.
  • Adobe Systems Incorporated introduces PostScript.
  • Microsoft ships Windows 1.0.
  • AT&T introduces the Targa board, a color graphics frame buffer for PCs.
  • Live Aid, a benefit rock concert in London and Philadelphia, raises over $60 million for famine relief in Africa.
  • SIGGRAPH 85 Co-Chairs – Pat Cole and Robert L. Heilman
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Tom DeFanti
    University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Loren Carpenter
  • Steven A. Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Creative Graphics – Pierre Bιzier

    • 1986
  • SIGGRAPH 86 – Dallas, Texas
  • 22,000 attendees
  • 253 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 97,000 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 13.1 billion
  • Pixar showcases "Luxo Jr." in the SIGGRAPH 86 Electronic Theater.
  • Jerry Weil presents an algorithm for realistic cloth modellng.
  • Daniel Langlois founds Softimage.
  • A new graphics standard for 3D hierarchy-stored vector graphics information: PHIGS.
  • Pixar proposes Renderman as an interface protocol between temporal geometry data and rendering procedures that convert the data to images.
  • The Walt Disney Company establishes its first computer graphics department.
  • Crystal Graphics introduces TOPAS, PC-based 3D animation software.
  • A U.S. weapons plane is shot down, revealing the Iran-Contra conspiracy to finance insurrection in Nicaragua.
  • SIGGRAPH 86 Co-Chairs – Raymond L. Elliott and Ellen Gore
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Kellogg Booth
    University of Waterloo
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Turner Whitted

    • 1987
  • SIGGRAPH 87 – Anaheim, California
  • 30,541 attendees
  • 274 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 109,200 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 14 billion
  • Coco Conn and Creighton Helsley chair a panel on SIGKIDS at SIGGRAPH 87.
  • Paul Heckbert publishes the classic spoof "Ray Tracing JELL-O Brand Gelatin.”
  • Apple introduces the Mac II and HyperTalk.
  • Jeff Kleiser and Diana Walczak form Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company.
  • RCA’s Sarnoff Labs and Intel develop digital video interactive.
  • Bill Gates becomes microcomputing's first billionaire.
  • In October, stock prices collapse around the world, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 508 points (23 percent) in one day.
  • SIGGRAPH 87 Co-Chairs – James J. Thomas and Robert J. Young
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Kellogg Booth
    University of Waterloo
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Robert Cook
  • Steven A. Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Creative Graphics – Donald P. Greenberg

    • 1988
  • SIGGRAPH 88 – Atlanta, Georgia
  • 19,000 attendees
  • 249 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 103,050 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 17.1 billion
  • Pixar introduces Pat Hanrahan's creation: Renderman.
  • At SIGGRAPH 88, the first public demonstrations of virtual reality.
  • “Mike the Talking Head,” produced by the DeGraf/Wahrman Production Company, talks with SIGGRAPH 88 attendees.
  • Steve Jobs introduces NeXT Computers.
  • A "worm" designed by Robert Morris disrupts over 6,000 military computers in the U.S.
  • A terrorist bomb destroys a Pan Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.
  • SIGGRAPH 88 Co-Chairs – Andrew C. Goodrich and Adele Newton
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Kellogg Booth
    University of Waterloo
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Alan H. Barr

    • 1989
  • SIGGRAPH 89 – Boston, Massachusetts
  • 27,000 attendees
  • 238 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 96,170 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 20.4 billion
  • NewTek introduces Video Toaster.
  • Industrial Light & Magic creates the water creature for "The Abyss."
  • Pixar wins an Academy Award for "Tin Toy,” the first computer animation to win an Oscar for best animated short film.
  • At SIGGRAPH 89, the first demonstrations of multimedia.
  • Jim Kajiya and Timothy Kay demonstrate realistic rendering of fur.
  • AT&T introduces the Pixel Machine for real-time parallel rendering.
  • AVID introduces a non-linear video editing system for the Mac II.
  • The U.S. allocates $300 billion to rescue the savings and loan industry.
  • I.M. Pei's glass pyramid, designed with CAD systems, is erected in the courtyard of the Louvre in Paris.
  • SIGGRAPH 89 Co-Chairs – Branko J. Gerovac and Christopher F. Herot
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – James J. Thomas
    Battelle Laboratories
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – John Warnock
  • Steven A. Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Creative Graphics – David C. Evans

    • 1990
  • SIGGRAPH 90 – Dallas, Texas
  • 24,684 attendees
  • 248 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 104,850 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 23.4 billion
  • Microsoft introduces Windows 3.0.
  • The National Science Foundation establishes a Science and Technology Center for computer graphics and visualization.
  • Autodesk introduces 3D Studio.
  • Scitex buys Iris Graphics.
  • Barco buys Chromatics.
  • Nelson Mandela is released from prison in South Africa.
  • SIGGRAPH 90 Co-Chairs – David S. Loendorf and Jacqueline M. Wollner
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – James J. Thomas
    Battelle Laboratories
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Richard Shoup and Alvy Ray Smith

    • 1991
  • SIGGRAPH 91 – Las Vegas, Nevada
  • 23,100 attendees
  • 182 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 106,800 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 27 billion
  • Loren Carpenter demonstrates interactive audience participation during the SIGGRAPH 91 Electronic Theater.
  • The liquid metal character created by Industrial Light and Magic for "Terminator 2" sets a new standard for computer-generated special effects in feature films.
  • Disney's "Beauty and The Beast" combines computer-generated effects with classic animation.
  • IBM and Apple agree to co-develop a new generation of micro-processors.
  • Borland buys Ashton-Tate.
  • Iraq invades Kuwait, and the U.S. counters with Operation Desert Storm.
  • SIGGRAPH 91 Co-Chairs
  • Carol Byram and Michael J. Bailey
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – James J. Thomas
    Battelle Laboratories
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – James T. Kajiya
  • Steven A. Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Creative Graphics – Andries van Dam

    • 1992
  • SIGGRAPH 92 – Chicago, Illinois
  • 34,148 attendees
  • 253 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 96,900 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 31.5 billion
  • Macromind-Paracomp merges with Authorware to form Macromedia.
  • The CAVE virtual reality theater, a multi-person, room-sized, high-resolution, 3D video and audio environment developed by the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago, premieres at SIGGRAPH 92.
  • Researchers at the University of North Carolina conduct the first experiments to superimpose virtual and real scenes in a unified visual experience.
  • The first M-BONE audio multicast is transmitted on the Internet.
  • The number of distinct strains of computer viruses exceeds 1,000.
  • NASA's COBE satellite discovers "the edge" of the universe, confirming the Big Bang theory.
  • SIGGRAPH 92 Chair – Maxine D. Brown
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Judy Brown
    University of Iowa
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Henry Fuchs

    • 1993
  • SIGGRAPH 93 – Anaheim, California
  • 27,000 attendees
  • 285 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 103,250 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 36 billion
  • Princeton researchers introduce concept of wavelets to radiosity.
  • Intel introduces the 60- megahertz Pentium chip.
  • IBM and Motorola introduce the Power PC 601, a 60-megahertz chip.
  • NCSA releases Marc Andreesen’s Mosaic Web browser for X-windows.
  • James Cameron, Stan Winston, and Scott Ross form Digital Domain.
  • Wavefront merges with Thompson Digital Image.
  • Dizzy Gillespie dies at the age of 73.
  • SIGGRAPH 93 Co-Chairs – Bob Judd and Mark Resch
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Judy Brown
    University of Iowa
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Pat Hanrahan
  • Steven A. Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Creative Graphics – Edwin E. Catmull

    • 1994
  • SIGGRAPH 94 – Orlando, Florida
  • 25,000 attendees
  • 269 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 107,600 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 39.6 billion
  • Industrial Light and Magic wins an Oscar for its special-effects work on "Jurassic Park."
  • Jim Clark and Marc Andreesen establish Netscape Communications.
  • Microsoft acquires Softimage and Altamira.
  • Adobe and Aldus merge.
  • Leonard Adelman, University of Southern California, demonstrates that DNA can be used as a computing medium.
  • Brazil defeats Italy in the first World Cup championship played in the U.S.
  • SIGGRAPH 94 Chair – Dino Schweitzer
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Mary Whitton
    University of North Carolina
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Kenneth E. Torrance

    • 1995
  • SIGGRAPH 95 – Los Angeles, California
  • 40,100 attendees
  • 297 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 126,000 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 43.3 billion
  • John Lasseter, Vice President, Creative at Pixar, received a 1995 Academy Award in the category of Special Achievements for his inspired leadership of the Pixar Toy Story team resulting in the first feature length computer animated film.
  • Silicon Graphics, Inc. acquires Alias and Wavefront.
  • Avid Technology acquires Elastic Reality.
  • Microsoft introduces Windows 95, the fastest-selling operating system in history.
  • Cray Computer files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy production.
  • Pixar receives the best-picture Academy Award, for "Toy Story,” the first computer-animated full-length feature film.
  • Sun Microsystems introduces Java.
  • A truck bomb shatters the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City.
  • SIGGRAPH 95 Co-Chairs – Brian Herzog and Peter Meechan
  • SIGGRAPH Chair
  • Steve Cunningham
    California State University, Stanislaus
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Kurt Akeley
  • Steven A. Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Creative Graphics – Jose Luis Encarnaηγo

    • 1996
  • SIGGRAPH 96
  • New Orleans, Louisiana
  • 28,800 attendees
  • 321 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 157,800 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 50 billion
  • Silicon Graphics, Inc. acquires Cray Computer.
  • Texas Instruments introduces the Digital Light engine.
  • Adobe Systems acquires Frame Technology.
  • The IEEE Computer Society celebrates its 50th anniversary.
  • US broadcasters reach agreement on HDTV.
  • The first "boomers" turn 50.
  • SIGGRAPH 96 Chair – John F. Fujii
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Steve Cunningham
    California State University, Stanislaus
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Marc Levoy

    • 1997
  • SIGGRAPH 97 – Los Angeles, California
  • 48,700 attendees
  • 359 exhibitors
  • Exhibit space: 182,600 square feet
  • Annual worldwide revenue, computer graphics industry: $US 56.1 billion
  • Microsoft acquires Web TV.
  • PTC acquires CompterVision.
  • Doug Engelbert receives the $500,000 1997 Lemelson-MIT Prize for inventing the computer mouse.
  • ACM celebrates its 50th anniversary with a major international conference in San Jose, California: ACM '97.
  • In October, Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics opened its new institutional building, IDG, in Darmstadt, Germany. Steve Cunningham, Andy van Dam, Bert Herzog and Judy Brown were among the featured speakers. Portraits in Computer Graphics was shown for the first time and a SIGGRAPH art gallery was opened.
  • The chair of the first SIGGRAPH conference, Robert L. Schiffman, dies.
  • SIGGRAPH 97 Chair – G. Scott Owen
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Steve Cunningham
    California State University, Stanislaus
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz
  • Steven A. Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Creative Graphics – James Foley

    • 1998
  • SIGGRAPH 98 – Orlando, Florida
  • SIGGRAPH 98: the 25th international conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques.
  • Digital Domain receives an Academy Award for its special-effects work on “Titantic,” the highest-grossing film of all time.
  • SIGGRAPH 98 Chair – Walt Bransford
  • SIGGRAPH Chair – Steve Cunningham
    California State University, Stanislaus
  • Computer Graphics Achievement Award – Michael Cohen
  • SIGGRAPH Outstanding Service Award – Maxine Brown

    • SEMINAL PAPERS FOR THE SIGGRAPH 98 TIME TUNNEL

    1974

    J. Fley, V. Wallace. The art of natural graphic man-machine conversation. Proc. IEEE, 1974, 462-471.

    1975

    E. Catmull. Computer display of curved surfaces. Proc. IEEE Conf. CG, PR and Data Structures, 1975, 11-17.

    J. Kajiya, I. Sutherland, Cheadle. A random-access video frame buffer. Proc. IEEE Conf. CG, PR and Data Structures, 1975, 1-6

    B. Phong. Illumination of computer-generated pictures. CACM, 18(6), June 1975, 311-317.

    1976

    J. Blinn, M. Newell. Texture and reflection in computer generated images. CACM, 19(10), October 1976, 542-546.

    N. Burtnyk, M. Wein. Interactive animation of free-from images. CACM, 19(10), October 1976, 564-569.

    J. Clark. Hierarchical geometric models for visible surface algorithms. CACM, 19(10), October 1976, 547-554.

    1977

    J. Blinn. Models of light reflection for computer generated images. SIGGRAPH, 11(3), July 1977, 316-322.

    F. Crow. The antialiasing problem in computer-generated shaded images. CACM, 20(11), November 1977, 799-805.

    H. Fuchs. Distributed visible surface algorithm. Proc. ACM, 1977, 449-451.

    1978

    J. Blinn. Simulation of wrinkled surfaces. SIGGRAPH, 12(3), August 1978, 286-292.

    L. Williams. Casting curved shadows on curved surfaces. SIGGRAPH, 12(3), August 1978, 270-274.

    1982

    J. Clark. The geometry engine. SIGGRAPH, 16(3), July 1982, 127-133.

    R. Cook, K. Torrance. A reflectance model for computer graphics. ACM TOG, 1(1), January 1982, 7-24.

    Fournier, Fussell, Carpenter. Computer rendering of stochastic models. CACM, 25(6), June 1982, 371-384.

    P. Heckbert. Color image quantization for frame buffer display. SIGGRAPH, 16(3), July 1982, 297-307.

    1983

    W. Reeves. Particle systems: a technique for modeling a class of fuzzy objects. SIGGRAPH, 17(3), July 1983, 359-376.

    L. Williams. Pyramidal parametrics. SIGGRAPH, 17(3), July 1983, 1-11.

    1984

    A. Barr. Global and local deformations of solid primitives. SIGGRAPH, 18(3), July 1984, 21-30.

    R. Cook. Shade trees. SIGGRAPH, 18(3), July 1984, 223-231.

    R. Cook, T. Porter, L. Carpenter. Distributed raytracing. SIGGRAPH, 18(3), July 1984, 137-145.

    C. Goral, K. Torrance, D. Greenberg, B. Battaile. Modeling the interaction of light between diffuse surfaces. SIGGRAPH, 18(3), July 1984, 213-222.

    T. Porter, T. Duff. Compositing digital images. SIGGRAPH, 18(3), July 1984, 253-259.

    1985

    R. Cook, T. Porter, L. Carpenter. Stochastic sampling in computer graphics. ACM TOG, 15(1), January 1986, 51-72.

    M. Girard, A. Mciejewski. Computational modeling for the computer animation of legged figures. SIGGRAPH, 22(4), July 1985, 263-270.

    1986

    J. Kajiya. The rendering equation. SIGGRAPH, 20(4), August 1986, 143-150.

    K. Perlin. An image synthesizer SIGGRAPH, 19(3), July 1985, 287-296.

    1987

    J. Lassiter. Principles of animation as applied to 3D character animation. SIGGRAPH, 21(4), July 1987, 35-44.

    W. Lorensen, H. Cline. Marching cubes: a high resolution 3D surface construction algorithm. SIGGRAPH, 21(4), July 1987, 163-170.

    C. Reynolds. Flocks, herds and schools. SIGGRAPH, 21(4), July 1987, 25-34.

    1988

    Cohn, Chen, Wallace, Greenberg. A progressive refinement approach to fast radiosity image generation. SIGGRAPH, 22(4), August 1988, 74-84.

    R. Drebin, L. Carpenter, P. Hanrahan. Volume rendering. SIGGRAPH, 22(4), August 1988, 65-74.

    1992

    T. Beier, S. Neely. Feature-based image metamorphosis. SIGGRAPH, 26(2), July 1992, 35-42.

    1993

    S. Chen, L. Williams. View interpolation for image synthesis. SIGGRAPH, 1993, 279-288.