For Siggraph Asia 2019 Conference Chair Dr. Tomasz Bednarz, the upcoming event will captivate attendees with stunning artistry, technology and creative achievements.
Walt Disney put it best when he said he’d rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.
It’s this sentiment - from one of the world’s geniuses of animation and design - that artist-scientist Dr. Tomasz Bednarz says is at the heart of the experience people can expect at SIGGRAPH Asia 2019 when it lands in Brisbane this coming November 17-20.
Dr. Bednarz, an associate professor, Team Leader at CSIRO's Data61 and the Conference Chair of SIGGRAPH Asia 2019, says delegates and attendees will be captivated and, by extension, educated by the visually stunning array of technology, installations, artistry, animations, gaming, science and expert speakers on display.
“SIGGRAPH is the best conference in the world when it comes to computer graphics and interactive techniques skills, there’s no doubt about that,” he says. “And it’s a big deal for Brisbane because it will bring the most respected technical and creative people from all over the world who are excited by research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education and emerging technologies. Scientists, artists, engineers and many more will all meet in one place and whether they come from a mathematical background, a science background, art or a design background - these minds can discover the trends and incredible work happening across the world.”
After being hosted last year in Tokyo and the year prior in Bangkok, SIGGRAPH Asia 2019 will take over the Brisbane Exhibition & Convention Centre, and Dr. Bednarz says the opportunity will be great for the city’s graphics and visual effects talents, researchers, scientists, content creators and industry to be inspired to build a legacy of business connections, relationships and education to push local operators to a new level.
“It draws in a range of animation professionals from other countries, lots of visual effects people along with producers, directors and others who work on large films, and of course the scientists and researchers behind the technology,” he explains. “And they all come to this one place to forge new relationships, business opportunities and to be inspired by the crazy ideas this industry is good at creating.”
And they flock to the conference for good reason - the program is a veritable cacophony of global design talent converging to see more than 700 speakers and 90-plus exhibitors. In fact, Dr. Bednarz says the conference brought in close to 10,000 delegates and spectators last year and he hopes Brisbane will deliver better numbers across its three days.
“I’m hoping for 14,001 people,” he laughs.
“But seriously, SIGGRAPH is unique in terms of content. The range of programs available really shows the full contrast of types of professionals the conference attracts -- from the Computer Animation Festival aspect of the conference that will showcase the cutting edge work happening in computer-generated animation and visual effects, right through to the Extended Reality sessions and technical sessions that will dive into emerging technologies including brain-machine interfaces, prosthetics robotics, synthetic biology, device and display technologies, and more. You can see sessions about the science behind the technology or you can see the technology in action with the latest AR and VR devices, or through crazy installations you will be able to see and touch and hear.”
Dr. Bednarz says Brisbane is positioned perfectly to host SIGGRAPH Asia 2019, thanks to its recent history of embracing start-ups and emerging motion graphics and animation businesses.
“Brisbane is a smaller market in terms of the graphics industry, but the talents are excellent, so they will embrace the opportunity to participate in an event that has true global reach,” he shares. “One of the programs is the Business & Innovation Symposium, which will give Brisbane’s local industry the chance to have a ‘speed dating’ experience with key C-level business people and executives from across the world, allowing them to build connections and grow their talents, skills and businesses here. I really wanted to bring SIGGRAPH to Brisbane because I wanted to show that it’s a super cool place to have a start-up in our industry, and there have been quite a few that have started in the past few years.”
“However, Brisbane obviously has outstanding conference facilities and accommodation infrastructure, and it is the closest major capital city to Asia which makes it perfectly placed to host an event of this magnitude,” he adds. “I want to make it one of the largest conferences ever run in Queensland.”
To register for SIGGRAPH Asia 2019, visit https://sa2019.siggraph.org.
