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Are you science? Are you art? Do you daydream of computations or calculate in creativity? Are you a student? If so, you will find yourself right at home at SIGGRAPH 2012. Science and art will come together in one outstanding international conference to explore computer graphics and interactive techniques from both points of view, and YOU can be a part of it!

The SIGGRAPH 2012 Student Volunteer Program is a unique opportunity for students to meet people involved in all areas of the computer graphics industry while contributing to the overall success of the SIGGRAPH Conference. The industry's future leaders are encouraged to apply: students who demonstrate leadership, service, and a passion for computer graphics and interactive techniques.

Attendees dug in with the "Glowing Pathfinder Bugs" display.

The 2010 SIGGRAPH Art Gallery has done away with the old phrase “look but don’t touch.”

The 14 juried pieces exhibited this year absolutely require human interaction with a focus on haptics (touch).  Richard Elaver from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne has taken the cross disciplinary theme of Leonardo and applied it to the selection process for the exhibits on display.  Leonardo is a journal that has a philosophy of combining science, technology and art.  Leonardo can be explored at www.leonardo.info.

Richard comes from a traditional art background of metalsmithing and jewelry making.  He was always chasing new techniques and looking for different ways of doing things.  Technology is fine, but there is something satisfying about working with materials.  As a boy, when the others were making snowmen, Richard made a six foot toilet out of snow in his parent’s front yard.  Certainly that was different, more importantly, it was a combination of science and technology to produce art.

By Rick Kerrigan

Last night I attended the SIGGRAPH 2010 Computer Animation Festival in downtown Los Angeles. At the end of the two hour presentation my viewing partner kept muttering to me about “sensory overload” as we shuffled out the door. It’s one of the dangers of today’s world. The big Hollywood movie was well represented by clips from The Last Airbender, Iron Man 2, Alice in Wonderland, 2012 and Avatar. The digital work on these films is, of course, excellent but overwrought compared to the smaller films and shorts. Simple stories told using the computer took the day.

Attendees clamor to get a look at the 360-Degree Autostereoscopic Display.

written by Eric Post

Preston Smith began with SIGGRAPH as a volunteer 15 years ago and is the current Chair of the Emerging Technologies section.  Preston is a network administrator.  When he graduated from college, he thought seriously about getting involved in CG.  The more he watched what the kids in this industry were doing with technology, the more he became interested in supporting that technology. Today, Preston is the Linux administrator at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research.  He supports the fMRI, or function Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine.

At Laureate, the doctors and staff study brain disorders such as eating disorders.  The new idea is that the MRI runs when the patient is performing certain tasks, hence the “functional” portion of the test. This allows the researchers to see how normal or not so normal specific portions of the brain reacts when given tasks that target those specific locations.  So Preston has a keen eye to emerging technology when it has a potential to benefit people.

Pixar's Jim Morris

Jim Morris, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Production at Pixar Animation Studios has over 23 years experience as a producer and production executive in the motion picture industry.  He came to the 37th Annual SIGGRAPH, his 20th time in attendance, with a message.

Jim posed the rhetorical question, “Who comes to SIGGRAPH?”  It is the people who, at some point early in life, watched a movie that lit a spark in them.  For Jim, it was stop animation in some of the older movies like Jason and the Argonauts.

Thousands jam the exhibition floor.

by AWN Publisher Dan Sarto

My SIGGRAPH Day 1 was actually the 3^rd day of the entire event, the first day of the main exhibits.  Either I’m getting old (which I am) or it’s just getting harder and harder to focus and keep track of people I’ve met, sessions I’ve attended, screenings I’ve sat through.  Despite 20 pages of notes and a handful of photos, I’m still trying to make proper account of my day before starting all over again today.  Here goes nothing…

Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs shows more 3-D potential.

The exhibition has closed but the conference continues on this last day, with 3-D screenings (including some new Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs footage) and E-Tech still attracting lots of attention, even spread out in several rooms and isolated on the third floor. The emphasis is on interactive sensory techniques. And what's hot? "The interconnectivity between the machine and human," asserted Manabu Sakurai, Emerging Technologies chair. "If you see the gaming industry, your console is not just a game console anymore -- part of your body is the game console. And the machine understands your natural movements. And then, in an opposite way, the display, what you see is also getting closer to humans. The key word is 3-D."

Rob Cook.

Press reports have attendance at about 10,000, which is extremely low, of course. But, as I previously noted, it's resulted in a very appropriate quaintness. You can tell that the people who have come here are very passionate. While one exhibitor lamented the lack of scientific research on display and the commercialization of the event (no need to wait for SIGGRAPH to publish your tech paper), Rob Cook (the recipient of the Steven A. Coons Award) gave what Chris Landreth described as a "spiritual, practical and visionary" speech about "why there still needs to be SIGGRAPH."

Pigeon Impossible competes at SIGGRAPH.

written by Lance Jones and Jessica Brown of the Animation and Visual Effects Program Louisiana State University Shreveport Evening Theater’s Festival Chair’s Reel included the following shorts. Pigeon: Impossible Lucas Martell USA Pigeon: Impossible is an antagonistic tale between a pigeon and an undercover agent. The scene opens with an establishing shot of the pigeon watching he agent in a secret package hand off. The agent casually sits on a bench with the package and a steel briefcase. He begins eating a donut under the watchful eye of the pigeon. The pigeon moves to confront him for a piece. Not satisfied with the crumbs that are offered, the pigeon attacks the agent for a larger portion. A struggle ensues in which the pigeon is accidently flung into the briefcase. Curiosity grasps the pigeon as it begins to experiment with the technology contained within the case. Social disruption, with hilarious jabs, follows as the pigeon takes flight within the briefcase, powered by hidden jet engines. Firing lasers and missiles, the pigeon pursues the agent for the donut. As the agent struggles, control shifts to the agent. Alas, it is too late, as the pigeon had already sent command to launch a nuclear warhead from the briefcase. The agent tosses the donut and focuses on the threat. He fires a missile at the warhead. It destroys the warhead. The agent gracefully descends to the ground by way of the jet- powered briefcase. Adjusting his tie and glancing once more at the pigeon, the agent walks away. One last laugh is had when the pigeon is crushed by the remains of the falling warhead.

Silhouettes of Jazz

Evening Theater’s Jury Chair’s Reel included the following shorts. Silhouettes of Jazz Dominik Kaser Martin-Sebastian Senn, Mario Deuss ETH Zurich Switzerland The first video shown was Silhouettes of Jazz. Jazz music plays as the camera takes you though a house where each room has a different 3D objects that look like a blob of plastic are turning in place. Light is casted on them to form shadows on the wall. These shadows turn out to be sculptures that highlight five milestones in the history of jazz. The music changes in each room. The first room represents field workers, the second is instruments that also turn into someone playing them, depending on how the light shines on it. The next is a dancing couple. Then a spade sculpture is hanging from the ceiling. The last objects were music notes. This video captured the jazz is a new light. The music chosen takes you through out different jazz eras.