The 47th annual international conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques, SIGGRAPH 2020, was held for the first time virtually and, according to its organizers, it offered participants “digital magic”. The show, which launched online on 17 August, has concluded its live session week with nearly 400,000 streams worldwide.
On the conclusion of the event, SIGGRAPH 2020 Conference Chair Kristy Pron shared, “SIGGRAPH 2020 was a huge testament to the strength and collaboration of the incredible graphics community. While we love to gather in-person and many missed the chance to see old friends, our incredible contributors and exhibitors brought their A game to this online experiment, and I could not be happier to have presided over SIGGRAPH’s first virtual conference.”
If you did not have a chance to participate, you still can! That’s one advantage of the virtual shows that the pandemic made mandatory: some of the sessions are available to watch even after the show has ended. SIGGRAPH 2020 is an example: though no new content will air, the event will remain open for registration through 11 September, with content accessible to participants until 27 October. It’s great to be able to check some of the sessions you missed, or review those you want to know more about.
As is expected of the event, virtual SIGGRAPH 2020 played host to the latest innovations in art, science, and technology from more than 1600 contributors across 700 presentations during its two-week release, 17–28 August. To date, according to the organizers, the conference has been welcomed and enjoyed by an international audience from 95 countries. Representation from six out of seven continents included participants from the United States, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, France, Brazil, Israel, China, and more.
Despite the move online, SIGGRAPH continues to be a show that attracts the industry. In fact, this year’s Exhibition housed more than 80 diverse companies, who showcased the latest in computer graphics hardware, software, and more during custom virtual demonstrations and over 70 curated sessions.
Highlights from the conference included a magical keynote from cyber illusionist Marco Tempest, executive director of New York’s magicLab; the presentation of 163 research papers and 69 posters; three world-premiere animated shorts in the Computer Animation Festival Electronic Theater; the worldwide release of Magic Leap’s “The Last Light”, a VR Theater selection, and the unveiling of Felix & Paul Studios’ first AR Project, a collaboration with The Jim Hensen Company.
The list does not stop there: ACM SIGGRAPH’s two-day Diversity and Inclusion Summit, sneak peek Production Sessions and Talks focusing on not only film and games but prestige TV and advertising, two retrospective panels celebrating pioneers from PDI (Pacific Data Images) and the NYIT Computer Graphics Lab, respectively, and the first-ever Real-Time Live! global broadcast.
SIGGRAPH 2020 conference award winners are:
ACM Student Research Competition
First Place, Graduate – “Bound-constrained Optimized Dynamic Range Compression” by Dorian Chan, Carnegie Mellon University
First Place, Undergraduate – “Non-photorealistic Radiance Remapping” by Kohei Doi, Kyushu University
Art Gallery
Best in Show – “Cacophonic Choir” by Hannah E. Wolfe, Colby College; Sölen Kiratli, Media Arts and Technology Program (MAT), UCSB, University of California Santa Barbara; and, Alex John Bundy, Planetarium Music
Art Papers
Best in Show – “Enhanced Family Tree: Evolving Research and Expression” by Fan Xiang, Shunshan Zhu, Zhigang Wang, Kevin Maher, Yi Liu, and Zhiqiang Liang, Tsinghua University; Yilin Zhu, Stanford University; and, Kaixi Chen, Beijing Yuguo Culture and Technology Ltd. Inc.
Computer Animation Festival Electronic Theater
Best in Show – “Loop” by Erica Milsom, Pixar Animation Studios (United States)
Best Student Project – “Gunpowder” by Romane Faure of Supinfocom Rubika (France)
Jury’s Choice – “The Beauty” by Pascal Schelbli of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH, Animationsinstitut (Germany)
Audience Choice – “To: Gerard” by Taylor Meacham, DreamWorks Animation (United States)
Special Recognition – “Stem Cells: The Heroes in Crohn’s Perianal Fistula Treatment” by Alan Smith, MadMicrobe Studios (United Kingdom)
Immersive (Immersive Pavilion and VR Theater)
Best in Show – “DeepView Immersive Light Field Video” by Michael Broxton, Daniel Erickson, Jason Dourgarian, Jay Busch, Matthew DuVall, Matt Whalen, John Flynn, Ryan Overbeck, Peter Hedman, and Paul Debevec, Google Inc.
Real-Time Live
Best in Show (Tie) – “Interactive Style Transfer to Live Video Streams” by Ondřej Texler, David Futschik, Michal Kučera, Ondřej Jamriška, Šárka Sochorová, and Daniel Sýkora, CTU in Prague, FEE; and, Menglei Chai and Sergey Tulyakov, Snap Inc.
“Volumetric Human Teleportation” by Ruilong Li, Kyle Olszewski, Yuliang Xiu, Shunsuke Saito, and Zeng Huang, University of Southern California; and, Hao Li, University of Southern California, Pinscreen
Audience Choice – “DrawmaticAR – Automagical AR Content From Written Words!” by Yosun Chang, AReality3D, Permute.xyz
Register to access on-demand SIGGRAPH 2020 content through 11 September at s2020.SIGGRAPH.org/register.