SIGGRAPH 2023 has checked off the computer graphics and interactive techniques conference-exhibition’s 50th year. The conference provided a platform for innovators to share their contributions in digital art, technology, computer science and other related content. An international audience of more than 14,275 attendees from 78 countries enjoyed the conference and its Mobile and Virtual Access component.
“One of SIGGRAPH’s most powerful strengths is that it’s a gathering of a wide variety of people in the computer graphics and interactive techniques community,” said Erik Brunvand, SIGGRAPH 2023 Conference Chair. “We’ve been a driving force for the expansion and growth in computer graphics for the last 50 years. SIGGRAPH is successful because it’s a place to appreciate and make connections across a variety of disciplines. From film and visual effects to academia and art to hardware and software, SIGGRAPH is a place for everyone. We have a unique community that has continued to grow over the last 50 years. And, as we celebrate 50 years, pioneers and the next generation of pioneers have a place to make their marks in the industry.”
Highlights from the conference included:
- SIGGRAPH 2023 Keynote Speakers: Dr. Darío Gil, IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research, and Kathryn Kleiman, Founder of the ENIAC Programmers Project, Author, Lawyer, and Professor at American University Washington College of Law.
- The History Time Tunnel, sponsored by Autodesk, was an immersive and interactive experience that showcased the history of SIGGRAPH conferences and computer graphics.
- The Technical Papers program continues to be the premier venue for showcasing the most cutting-edge research results from computer graphics and interactive techniques.
- Papers Fast Forward allowed participants to get a glimpse of all the research papers from the Technical Papers and Art Papers programs.
- Installations from previous conferences, playable retro video games and a display of all Pixar RenderMan walking teapots were showcased in the Blasts From the Past exhibit.
- The Experience Hall is where the Art Gallery featured a Retrospective of Female Digital Art Pioneers, while Emerging Technologies and the Immersive Pavilion showcased the latest in technological innovations. With Labs, participants got hands-on experiences with new techniques.
- Real-Time Live! was livestreamed for the first time on Twitch, along with the in-person experience. The live audience and Twitch viewers were amazed by the latest technologies with interactive visuals in real time.
- As storytelling and the growth of virtual reality content expands, the VR Theater presented the latest in immersive narratives.
- The Electronic Theater presented animation excellence across 22 featured films.
- In Production Sessions, the teams from recent productions highlighted behind-the-scenes creativity, innovation and collaboration.
- Mobile and Virtual Access showed strong engagement, with an average of 100 users per minute logging on to explore SIGGRAPH 2023 content.
- The top three most popular sessions interacted with on Mobile and Virtual Access included “Stylized Rendering Techniques,” “Practical Proceduralism in Production,” and “Neural Fields for Visual Computing.”
SIGGRAPH 2023 also celebrated this year’s contributors by honoring some “Best of” from various programs (see the full list here), including:
Electronic Theater
Best in Show — La Diplomatie de l’Éclipse
[qualifier for the Academy Awards]
César Luton, Ecole MoPA
Jury’s Choice [tie] — The Voice in the Hollow
Miguel Ortega, half MT studios
Jury’s Choice [tie] — Overwatch: Kiriko
Jeremiah Johnson and Dave Stephens, Blizzard Entertainment
Best Student Project — Swing to the Moon
Marie Bordessoule, Elisa Drique, Solenne Moreau, Adriana Bouissié, Vincent Levrero, Nadine de Boer, Chloé Lauzu, ESMA
Audience Choice* — Boom
Gabriel Augerai, Romain Augier, Laurie Pereira De Figueiredo, Charles Di Cicco, Yannick Jacquin, Miyu Distribution
VR Theater
Best in Show — Missing 10 Hours VR
Fanni Fazakas, RUMEXR, Victoria University of Wellington; Noemi Szakonyi, Mate Vincze, Match-Frame Productions
Art Gallery
Best in Show — “Reinventing the Spindle”
Ebru Kurbak, University of Applied Arts Vienna
Immersive Pavilion
Best in Show — Actualities: Seamless Live Performance With the Physical and Virtual Audiences in Multiverse
Ke-Fan Lin, Yu-Chih Chou, Yu-Hsiang Weng, Yvone Tsai Chen, Zin-Yin Lim, Chi-Po Lin, Ping-Hsuan Han, Tse-Yu Pan, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Real-Time Live!
Best in Show — “Interactive AI Material Generation and Editing in NVIDIA Omniverse”
Hassan Abu Alhaija, James Lucas, Alexander Zook, Michael Babcock, David Tyner, Rajeev, Rao, Maria Shugrina, NVIDIA
Audience Choice — “Real-time Stage Modelling and Visual Effects for Live Performances”
Taehyun Rhee, Andrew Chalmers, Faisal Zama, Anna Stangnes, Vic Roberts, Computational Media Innovation Centre, Victoria University of Wellington
Mark your calendars: SIGGRAPH 2024 will be held in Denver, Colorado, from July 28 – August 1.
