FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
5 June, 2001

For further information:
Sheila Hoffmeyer/Ann Kilhoffer-Reichert
+1.312.644.6610 x5811
+1.312.245.1083 fax
media-s2001@siggraph.org

SIGGRAPH 2001 Emerging Technologies Celebrates Technology Developed for Play
Experience New Interfaces and Other Advancements in Interactive Technology

(Chicago, IL) - ACM SIGGRAPH today announced the theme and content for the Emerging Technologies program for SIGGRAPH 2001, the 28th International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, being held 12 - 17 August at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, California. The theme of the program is a celebration of play. The work on display will enable attendees to experience new interfaces and other advances in interactive technology from corporate and academic research labs as well as some work currently in the beta test phase.

"The Emerging Technologies program celebrates the technology we develop to play, and the play we all enjoy in exploring technologies," said Mk Haley from Walt Disney Imagineering Research and Development, SIGGRAPH 2001 Emerging Technologies chair. "Imagine a multi-user puzzle that actually generates music, or a context-aware game played on PDAs that are connected to a wireless network. You can see these and lot more in the SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies program."

The work in the SIGGRAPH 2001 Emerging Technologies program includes:


Enhanced Reality: A New Frontier for Computer Entertainment
Richard Marks, Sony Computer America
In this installation participants interact with a virtual character, play with virtual butterflies, and have a magic duel. This is a new form of computer entertainment that enables movie-like special effects by mixing live video input and computer graphics in real-time.

Otto and Iris.com
Brian Loyall, Zoesis Studios
This Web-based work is a playful theme park filled with fun activities in a 3D world. The color elements are two autonomous, real-time interactive characters with individual personalities constructed from believable agent and interactive-drama technology.

Pirates!
Peter Ljungstrand , PLAY, Interactive Institute
Pirates! is a mobile, multi-user, context-aware computer game that runs on PDAs in a wireless network and is experienced in physical space. Unlike most computer games, the experience depends just as much on social interaction with people in the real world as on the computer-mediated game elements.

Alpha Wolf
Bill Tomlinson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
This installation, featuring compelling characters with a novel multi-person interface in an expressive graphical setting, allows participants to socially interact with a pack of autonomous wolves. It is an extension of previous work by the MIT Media Lab's Synthetic Characters Group on the creation of autonomous virtual creatures.

The Meditation Chamber
A. Fleming Seay, Georgia Institute of Technology
This work demonstrates how bio-feedback-driven visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli can create, guide and maintain meditation and relaxation experiences.

An Interface for Touching the Interface
Takuya Nojima, The University of Tokyo
This augmented-reality project shows new technology that uses real-time sensors and a haptic display to haptize a dynamically changing real environment. In this application, the technology ''touches'' the interface between two liquids converting chemical boundaries into physical feedback.


If you would like more information on the SIGGRAPH 2001 Emerging Technologies program, see www.siggraph.org/s2001. Or contact Ann Kilhoffer-Reichert, SIGGRAPH 2001 Media Relations, +1.858.581.3330, or ann_reichert@siggraph.org.

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SIGGRAPH 2001 will bring over 40,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents to Los Angeles for the week-long conference. A comprehensive technical program and special events focusing on research, art, animation, and interactive technologies are planned. SIGGRAPH 2001 includes a three-day exhibition of products and services for the computer graphics and interactive marketplace from 14-16 August 2001. ACM SIGGRAPH, the leading professional society for computer graphics and interactive techniques, sponsors SIGGRAPH 2001. Information on ACM SIGGRAPH membership and other conferences and activities can be found at www.siggraph.org.