Colorado-based Computer Graphics Industry Professionals Make Their Mark on a Global Scale at SIGGRAPH 2024

The world's leading annual educational experience showcasing the latest in integrated technology and computer graphics will feature Colorado's talented professionals on a world stage at the 51st annual conference in Denver

DENVER, July 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- This is the year when everything comes full circle at SIGGRAPH 2024, the premier conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques. The 51st annual conference, held from Sunday, 28 July, to Thursday, 1 August 2024, returns to its Colorado roots for the first time since the first SIGGRAPH conference in Boulder, Colorado, in 1974 with around 600 attendees. This year, exhibitors and thousands of attendees from around the globe will meet at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, bringing professionals worldwide together to explore innovative ideas and foster the future of computer graphics and interactive techniques. Colorado's top talent in the industry will not only be in attendance, but many are also presenting on the conference's global stage.

"It's a very good balance between the scientific content and the experiential quality of the installations and exhibits. SIGGRAPH has three parts. The conference allows high-quality scientific communication. The Experience Hall explores how technology creatively evolves and shows how computer graphics and interactive techniques impact our lives. Then, we have the SIGGRAPH Exhibition, exposing exciting advancements. We are committed to bringing the best quality possible to make this unforgettable," said SIGGRAPH 2024 Conference Chair Andres Burbano.

SIGGRAPH has transformed over the years, and as the conference enters the next age of computer graphics and interactive techniques, it continues to lead with creativity to design the most desirable future ahead. Colorado's own players in the industry will have a chance to be a part of the conversation this year. These contributors range across all of the different conference programs at SIGGRAPH 2024, including Art Gallery, ACM SIGGRAPH Village, Panels, Production Sessions, Immersive Pavilion, and Real-Time Live!, among others, to highlight the latest developments in their respective fields.

Representatives from Colorado at SIGGRAPH 2024 come from various organizations and experiences. This includes ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Aurora Innovation, David Em Studio, Denver Digerat, LunarG, Meow Wolf, Vicon, Walt Disney Imagineering R&D, and PickNik Robotics.

This year's ACM SIGGRAPH Village will feature a session on Sunday, 28 July from 10:30–11:30 am MDT, Exploring Ephemeral Spaces: Melding Technology and Performance, from Sharifa Lafon (curator and executive director of the Digerati Emergent Media Festival University of Colorado, Boulder), who will moderate a discussion with artists Nima Behrahmand, Laurids Sonne, and August Black with the University of Colorado Boulder; Kevin Sweet with the University of Texas Dallas; and Debora Bernagozi with Signal Culture, who will explore interdisciplinary approaches to experimental performance using computing, sound, and media. They will explore performance as a contemporary art practice that thrives beyond institutional spaces, fostering dynamic conversations rooted in play and the potential for participatory exchange with audiences. The widely exhibited artists in this session have worked across multidisciplinary contexts, offering insight into innovative approaches and conceptual perspectives on technology and performance.

The ACM SIGGRAPH Village is also inviting attendees on Tuesday, 30 July from 10:30–11:30 am MDT, to envision the future of Women in CG, as Ellen Yi-Luen Do, Professor of Computer Science, Director of ACME Lab ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado Boulder; joins Yoon Chung Han, Associate Professor, San José State University; and Dana Corrigan with the University of Tampa to discuss fostering a space where every voice is heard, every story is shared, and every woman is empowered to make her mark. Their goal is to ensure that women know that, together, they can shape the industry's future.

Courses will also be offered on Sunday, 28 July from 2:15–5:15 pm MDT covering the topic of Advanced Practices in Optimizing Motion Capture Pipelines for Games and VFX where David "Ed" Edwards with Vicon and Garry Gray, Denver-based with Vicon, will cover the critical stages of subject labeling, data capture, post-processing, and final retargeting onto custom character models. This course provides best practices and advanced techniques for streamlining the motion capture pipeline.

The team from Meow Wolf will also offer a course on Wednesday, 31 July, from 2–3:30 pm MDT called Fractal World Building: Infinitely Engaging Experience Design at Meow Wolf to explore immersive innovations and next-generation storytelling unique to Meow Wolf's blend of art, technology, and world-building. Attendees will gain insights into the cutting-edge use of lighting, audio, and other creative technologies that animate large-scale worlds, creating singular, unparalleled experiences for nearly 10 million guests across multiple locations.

Additional sessions from Colorado-based professionals include:

• Empowering Non-technical Users: Building Paper Circuit Boards With Zone-based Circuit Stickers presented by Ruhan Yang and Ellen Do.
• High Performance Graphics 2024 Conference, a panel where diverse industry experts present a variety of viewpoints about how trends in computer graphics and interactive techniques can address the challenges of today, while engaging in forward-thinking discussions to foster true change. Karen Ghavam of LunarG Inc., who hails from Fort Collins, will serve on this panel.
• Posters: Interactive Techniques Presentation - Fabricating Haptic Paper Interface presented by Ruhan Yang and Ellen Do.
• Arts and Technology presented by Longmont-based David Em of David Em Studio.
• A Procedural Production System for Autonomous Vehicle Simulation, among the contributors is Zach Repasky of Aurora Innovation.
• Technical Papers: Robust Containment Queries Over Collections of Rational Parametric Curves via Generalized Winding Numbers, among the presenters is Jacob Spainhour of the University of Colorado Boulder.
• Technical Papers: Interactive Design of Stylized Walking Gaits for Robotic Characters with Boulder-based Kyle Cesare from Walt Disney Imagineering R&D, PickNik Robotics, as part of the team of presenters.
• Technical Papers: A Hierarchical 3D Gaussian Representation for Real-time Rendering of Very Large Scenes featuring Brighton-based presenter Giorgos Christopoulos.

"SIGGRAPH is a place that is ahead of the trends. So, if you want to see what is going to be coming out later on, come to SIGGRAPH first," concludes Burbano.

Learn more about the SIGGRAPH 2024 programs here and what attendees can expect at this year's conference here.

About ACM, ACM SIGGRAPH, and SIGGRAPH 2024
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges. ACM SIGGRAPH is a special interest group within ACM that serves as an interdisciplinary community for members in research, technology, and applications in computer graphics and interactive techniques. The SIGGRAPH conference is the world's leading annual interdisciplinary educational experience showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH 2024, the 51st annual conference hosted by ACM SIGGRAPH, will take place live 28 July–1 August at the Colorado Convention Center, along with a Virtual Access option.

SOURCE SIGGRAPH