The DVI Group’s visual artist, Demorrius Sims, recently attended the annual SIGGRAPH conference in Anaheim, California.
My Experience at SIGGRAPH 2016
If I had to describe Siggraph to someone, I would likely say that it’s what happens when you fill a convention center with some of the smartest scientists, artists, and production managers in the world.
I was fortunate enough to have my trip sponsored last year by Siggraph after they decided to screen my film, The Kiss, in their day-time festival. I was so impressed that I decided it would be in my best interest to attend this year as well.
This year, it’s all about VR (Virtual Reality)
While last year was very focused on haptic technology, this year was almost all about VR (virtual reality).
There were a ton of companies there discussing their different approaches to creating content for the medium. Although many of the examples were extremely impressive, it seemed that everyone agreed on the fact that VR hasn’t come close to reaching it’s potential as a medium.
A lot of the discussion focused on artistic challenges faced when you take so much control away from the Director and give it to the audience. Based on what I saw at Siggraph, I believe the most successful pieces will be the projects that take this unusual imbalance and use it to their advantage.
LightStage at SIGGRAPH 2016
LightStage is a facial scanning technology that can be used to create textures for the different components of skin (reflectivity, diffuse, bumpiness, etc.) that can then be used in 3D applications.
It efficiently captures how a subject’s face appears when lit from every possible lighting direction. From this captured imagery, specialized algorithms create realistic virtual renditions of the subject in the illumination of any location or set, faithfully reproducing the color, texture, shine, shading, and translucency of the subject’s skin.
About SIGGRAPH
SIGGRAPH is the world’s largest, most influential annual event in computer graphics, animation and interactive techniques: Five days of research results, demos, educational sessions, art, screenings, and hands-on interactivity featuring the community’s latest technical achievements, and three days of commercial exhibits displaying the industry’s current hardware, software, and services.
