Behind the Hollywood blockbusters and amazing game worlds we play in for hours on end is a true merging of the arts and sciences. SIGGRAPH (short for Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and interactive techniques) is an annual conference that serves as a makeshift mecca for brilliant creative minds from everywhere from Africa to Japan that use computer technology in innovative, artistic ways. This year’s event featured an abundance of panels revealing CG techniques and tricks and a slew of emerging technologies including 3-D printers and haptic games, some of which hinted at Kurzweil’s Singularity concept and might find their way into movies and games in the near future. However, it’s not all purely for entertainment: one technology could be used to make an interactive art piece while also aiding the exploration of outer space.
If you use a computer to make art and are serious about taking your craft to the next level, SIGGRAPH is the obligatory event to see for inspiration, learning, networking and more. Check out some of the highlight art pieces, emerging technologies and more in the photo gallery below.
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#siggraph2012
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SIGGRAPH 2012 literally took over the Los Angeles convention center. (This was just one wing of the conference).
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There was no shortage of 3-D printers. Companies like MakerBot allowed you to print almost any object, even at the event!
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I really want one of these. The level of detail the printer could get was amazing.
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I really want one of these. The level of detail the printer could get was amazing.
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DIYLILCNC's ceramic printer is actually the inverse of a traditional 3-D printer: rather than "building" the object out of layers of resin, the ceramic printer carves out your desired object in a variety of materials ranging from clay to wood and even metal.
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The Loosely Fitted Design Synthesizer allowed for you to manipulate 3-D objects to create interesting imagery playing with color and symmetry which you capture with a foot pedal so you can use both hands while you work.
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There were numerous and much needed lounge areas for you to recharge your batteries (laptop and human) while exploring the conference.
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On the JUKE Cylinder each pipe extruding from this device represented an arpeggiated instrument you could "play" by sticking your hand under the steam. You adjust the pitch by moving your hand up and down.
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This Tamagochi-like creature (Tardigotchi) was actually an avatar for a real living water bear behind the screen. The device behind it is used to actually feed it.
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Proclaiming to be the world's thinnest screen, this apparatus called Colloidal Display was coupled with a projector allowed for interesting unusual visual experiences as it could do things such as project an image on multiple sequential "screens" for a teleportation-like 3-D effect.
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The idea behind the Combiform game device was to get people interacting with each other without focusing on the screen. It was essentially a digital Twister and was very addictive.
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One of the most mind-blowing technologies at SIGGRAPH 2012 was this real-life avatar called Telesar. With the required sensory equipment, one could control the robot and experience what it experienced including differentiate hot and cold and varying textures of objects the robot interacted with. The future is here people.
To find out more about Siggraph 2012 visit their official website.
