News

SIGGRAPH Asia is teaming up with the Digital Arts Community of ACM SIGGRAPH for the 2014 Conference in Shenhzen. On December 6, 2014, the SIGGRAPH Asia Featured Sessions program will include two digital arts panels to open the current discourse regarding future trends within artistic and multi-disciplinary practices. Under the general theme of "expanding the frontiers of digital arts," artists and theorists will gather for two discussions to explore the ongoing evolution of the field of digital art, and how it affects the changing nature of art making in an increasingly networked and computationally mediated world. The panels are:

New Boundaries for Digital Arts (11:00 – 12:45, Chrysanthemum Hall): What is digital art? What are the possibilities of emergent digital technologies, which enable us to push the boundaries of digital arts, creative media practice into popular cultures such as games design and computer animation?

Panel Members:

• Jane Prophet, Professor, School of Creative Media City University of Hong Kong
• Hanna Wirman, Research Assistant Professor, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Design

Chair: Sue Gollifer, Director of the ISEA International Headquarters
Discussant: Atsushi Wakimoto

Digital Arts and Multi-Disciplinary Practice: The Artist in Science, History, and Cultural Studies (14:15 – 16:00, Chrysanthemum Hall): How do we open up the boundaries between interdisciplinarity and multi-disciplinary, research-focused arts and science environments to create new opportunities and pathways for collaboration and future exchanges within our own research practice?

Panel Members:

• Maurice Benayoun, Professor, School of Creative Media City University of Hong Kong
• Tian Shaoxu, Professor, School of Media and Communication Shenzhen University
• Don Ritter, Professor, School of Creative Media City University of Hong Kong

For more information on the digital arts panels at SIGGRAPH Asia, visit the SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 website.

At one time, the most common scene that a persistence of vision (POV) display was associated with was, perhaps, in the rear window of a vehicle – for fun, rather than function. These displays rely on the “afterimage” that appears to persist in one’s vision; almost without exception, the design must include a rapidly oscillating or rotating linear array of LEDs, so as to take advantage of this property of the human eye and brain. For the most part, however, few individuals have ever thought to introduce the element of interactivity to these interesting “light-shows”. A project called JANUS is being developed by the Design Media and HCI labs of KAIST in Daejon, South Korea, and aims to expand upon both the functionality and practicality of these devices.

JANUS, which was exhibited in the Emerging Technologies program at SIGGRAPH 2014, not only solves an intrinsic problem with the design of POV displays, but also adds properties not commonly associated with them. For one, the fact that most of these displays only feature a single LED array facing towards one viewer is potentially problematic for anyone viewing the image from the other side – it will appear to be inverted. For this reason, KAIST’s project includes a secondary arm on the opposing side of the device, which allows for two viewers to observe either the same image from a correct perspective, or two entirely different images altogether – this could be a nice solution for the common difficulty that arises from any permutation of transparent display devices. In addition, the “blades” of the POV display in question contain ninety-six separate tri-color LEDs, so as to produce full-color images for both viewers.

The project’s teams did not stop there, however; a more interesting problem, perhaps, is that of interacting with these moving displays. Obviously, one could not just “touch” the image directly on the screen with the way that most implementations of the display already exist, at risk of injury (this project’s blades rotate at 1,000 RPM!). JANUS solves the problem of direct interaction by placing two sheets of plexiglass between the observer and the blade, and for purposes of manipulation, NEXIO ATI0500 infrared touch sensor frames. By utilizing this combination of various technologies, a new development emerges – one might even go so far as to say that it is “holographic” in nature, though JANUS does not necessarily adhere to that definition.

JANUS from Jay Lee on Vimeo.

Control interfaces included in the design of JANUS include only two separate components: a computer to receive the input from the touch sensor frames, and a Raspberry Pi to handle the image data. It is a fittingly simple scenario for a relatively simple – but innovative – device. According to the project specifications, the “blade” is currently set to display a single line of image data for every one degree of rotation that it traverses.

Although it is not a perfect solution to our desire for fully holographic displays, this advanced implementation of the age-old POV display is certainly a unique concept, and one can come up with plenty of interesting ideas to take advantage of it – the KAIST teams have experimented with image manipulation, particularly as it relates to an interaction between a user on one side of the screen to the other side; for instance, a variation on the universally recognized Snake was created to demonstrate the possibilities. From the SIGGRAPH 2014 Emerging Technologies paper, JANUS: “A player can control a snake and let it go through a hole [perceived in the screen]. A snake appears on the other side and the other player has to finish his/her mission to get the snake back to the previous side.”

It is easy to expand upon this unique idea of player-to-player interaction, and additional examples were provided of other concepts; clearly, there is reason to be interested in what JANUS leads to in time. These are the kinds of projects that may lead us to the future of display technologies.

October 31 is the last day for early bird registration for the joint conference ICAT-EGVE (the 24th International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence, and the 20th Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments). The conference will take place in Bremen, Germany from December 8-10, and will be held in cooperation with ACM SIGGRAPH.

ICAT-EGVE presents a unique opportunity for researchers, developers, and users to share their knowledge of virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and 3D user interfaces. According to the organizers of ICAT-EGVE, the Christmas fair in downtown Bremen will also be in full swing during the conference, and is a not-to-be-missed side attraction.

Members of Eurographics, EuroVR Association, VRSJ Japanese VR Society and ACM SIGGRAPH may register for ICAT-EGVE at the "member" rate. Early bird registration represents a savings of 100 € off the member and non-member rates.

More information on ICAT-EGVE from the conference organizers:

ICAT (the International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence) started in 1991, and is the oldest international conference on Virtual Reality and Telexistence. Artificial Reality and Telexistence augment human ability in perception, understanding, action, time and space. They also enable humans seemingly to be everywhere at the same time, i.e., enable humans to be virtually ubiquitous. ICAT has been held in various cities around the world, including Tokyo, Taipei (2000), Seoul (2004), Christchurch (2005), Hanzhou (2006), Esbjerg (2007), Yokohama (2008), Lyon (2009), Adelaide (2010), Osaka (2011), Madrid (2012) and Tokyo (2013) again.

EGVE (the Eurographics International Symposium on Virtual Environments) is the Eurographics Symposium for the exchange of experience and knowledge among researchers and developers concerned with using and improving virtual reality. It started in 1993 as a workshop, and successful symposiums have recently been held in Zurich 2003, Grenoble 2004, Aalborg 2005, Lisbon 2006, Weimar 2007, Eindhoven 2008, Lyon 2009, Stuttgart 2010, Nottingham 2011, Madrid 2012, and Paris 2013.

For more information, or to register for the conference, visit the ICAT-EGVE 2014 website.

ACM SIGGRAPH and the Digital Content Association of Japan (DCAJ) have a long-standing relationship, meeting each year at the SIGGRAPH Conference to share ideas and discuss their organizations’ activities. Recently, ACM SIGGRAPH and DCAJ augmented their relationship with a new agreement to exchange emerging technology exhibits between their respective conferences. ACM SIGGRAPH will select one of DCAJ’s technical exhibits at the Digital Content Expo to display at the annual SIGGRAPH conference, and DCAJ will choose one of the Emerging Technology exhibits at SIGGRAPH to show at the DC Expo. This year, ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Committee member Jacki Morie traveled to the DCAJ Expo in Tokyo to choose the 2015 technical exhibit from an array of 20 impressive offerings that had been selected by the DCAJ Steering Committee. The chosen technology would not only land a spot at the annual SIGGRAPH conference, but also receive an award called the ACM SIGGRAPH Special Prize. According to Morie, the high quality of all the exhibits made the decision especially difficult. The technology ultimately selected for this year’s ACM SIGGRAPH Special Prize is a fascinating haptic interaction panel intended to lift touch interfaces into the open air. The technology, entitled “Mid-Air Touch Panel with Tactile Feedback,” is from the Shinoda Makino Laboratory, Graduate School of Frontier Science, The University of Tokyo (Yasuaki Monnai, Keisuke Hasegawa, Masahiro Fujiwara, Kazuma Yoshino, Seki Inoue and Hiroyuki Shinoda).

From the technology’s creators: “This mid-air virtual touch panel is capable of giving touching sensation or tactile feedback to the fingertip. The tactile feedback is created by transmitting focused ultrasound superposed on the floating images. A mid-air virtual touch panel is quite useful for those who are handling food or medical operations and cannot touch an actual panel. It is also quite good in terms of public health, as we do not have to touch any actual surfaces which were touched by other people. ” For more information on the DCAJ, visit the Digital Content Association of Japan website. For an in-depth look at some of the technologies presented at this year’s DC Expo, check out the video below, courtesy of The Japan Times.

Are you excited about SIGGRAPH Asia and computer graphics? Don't want to wait until the next conference to get your CG fix? Then consider joining your local ACM SIGGRAPH chapter!

The goal of ACM SIGGRAPH chapters is to organize events in local communities and bring SIGGRAPH-style content to people in cities across the globe who share an interest in CG. Each chapter encompasses an entire city (or university, for student chapters) and is run by volunteers. Volunteering in your local chapter is a rewarding way to meet other computer graphics enthusiasts in your community, stay informed about the latest developments in the field, and to keep the SIGGRAPH spirit alive from conference to conference.

No chapter in your city? Why not start your own? At SIGGRAPH Asia, the Professional and Student Chapters Committee (PSCC) will be available to help you get started. Just stop by the chapters booth and schedule a meeting. The PSCC will explain the chapter chartering process in detail, and provide ideas on how to build support within your community.

THE PSCC will also be hosting special sessions at SIGGRAPH Asia. If you plan to be in Shenzhen this December, don't miss this opportunity to connect with the PSCC!

Professional and Student Chapters Committee Sessions at SIGGRAPH Asia 2014:

• Managing your SIGGRAPH Chapter (Thursday, 04 December 11:00 – 12:45 Chrysanthemum Hall, Level 5)
• Getting to Know ACM SIGGRAPH Chapters (Friday, 05 December 09:00 – 10:45 Chrysanthemum Hall, Level 5)

ACM SIGGRAPH Chapters will be holding meetings with people interested in volunteering to serve on the Professional and Student Chapters Committee. We hope to identify potential candidates that will work with us to build a support network for ACM SIGGRAPH Chapters in Asia. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Mashhuda Glencross at mglencross@siggraph.org.

About SIGGRAPH Asia 2014:

Over four days this December, Asia’s largest computer graphics event, SIGGRAPH Asia 2014, will be hosted in Shenzhen, China. SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 is dedicated to presenting the most cutting edge graphical achievements and product developments across a range of fields. Over 7,700 attendees from over 60 countries are expected, making the conference and exhibition the largest and most respected computer graphics conference in Asia. SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 will present a myriad of experts and exhibits in a range of fields, including hardware and software, film and game production, as well as research and education. For more information, or to register for the conference, visit the SIGGRAPH Asia 2014 website.