Siggraph, a leading computer graphics and technology conference, will be held from 28 July to 1 August 2024, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
At the conference, attendees will be able to explore trends in production, experience immersive VR sessions, and see innovative work in the Electronic Theater. The main program will be experienced in a seated, panoramic, multi-viewer immersive space, running approximately one hour from start to finish. New this year, participants will enter a mixed reality lobby before each experience. The segment will feature a diverse array of stories, from a musical journey aboard a space train to an immersive empathy documentary about losing and regaining sight.
“More than any other year, the pieces we’re involving carry more serious topics. I would say it’s a reflection of the world, as well. Art reflects the pulse of the world. For example, one of the pieces we are showcasing is about femicide in Mexico, a problem they are using VR as a medium to really put you in the seat of a woman in Mexico. When creators make a VR experience, it’s very important to ask yourself — Why am I making this into a VR experience and not, let’s say, in a flat medium? So, I think these pieces answer that question very clearly,” Siggraph 2024 VR theatre director Yangos Hadjiyannis said. “In the early days, I thought, creators would sometimes make experiences to test out the VR space. Now, it’s more like I’m doing this more purposefully considering the best ways to tell a story spatially. We experience our world in 3D and that is starting to be reflected uniquely in this medium, particularly with an emphasis on presence. I think that’s what really makes it unique.”
The VR Theater will also be announcing its Best in Show award for immersive experiences during the conference.
This year’s VR Theater will feature pieces including:
● Spots of Light: A piece that puts you in the situation of someone who has lost their sight, regained it, and then lost it again. It’s a personal journey of acceptance and hope.
● Astra: This mixed reality experience turns your living room into a life-size spaceship that takes you to explore and understand the composition of different materials on different planets.
● Draw for Change: A powerful experience about femicide in Mexico, walking in the shoes of a woman in Mexico who is resisting and raising awareness of the problem through beautiful mural work.
● Traversing the mist: A poetic journey of discovery of a gay man that takes you with them to the bathhouse, as you discover a deep sense of loneliness and reflection.
● Emperor: A spectacular piece about the condition of Aphasia, told in a bigger-than-life way, with intuitive interactions that move the medium forward.
The conference’s production sessions will go behind the scenes with an international community of production leaders in films, games, VR/MR/XR, and more to explore the challenges faced and opportunities in modern production pipelines. These sessions will highlighting a macro view of behind-the-scenes innovation, creativity, inclusion, and collaboration demonstrated during recent productions. Through 60-minute presentations, industry leaders will showcase their learnings and developments.“We’re seeing a wide variety of new tools being developed for all sorts of different aspects of production, whether it’s grooming fur and hair or virtual production tools. It’s across the board different workflow improvements that we’re seeing,” Siggraph 2024 production sessions chair Jonathan Nitiparsong noted. “Production Sessions are often the first place where people are able to see some of these new technologies and production skills in use.”
Of the 30 submissions received, 10 were selected for this year’s production sessions including Monkeys, Chimps & Gorillas: Wētā FX’s (r)Evolutionary Work with Primates; Oozing Hand Crafted 2D Illustration Into a 3D Ninja Turtle World; Visual Data Stories for Climate Action: The Making of NASA’s Earth Information Center Public Exhibits; Yin and Yang: The Balance of Animation in Kung Fu Panda 4; and Pushing the Limits: Crafting an Immersive Mega-Canvas for Phish’s Music Shows at Sphere.
The Siggraph 2024 experience also features an electronic theatre, which qualifies for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is recognised for its contributions from artists, researchers, and innovators around the world. The Electronic Theater once began as an annual showcase of computer graphics advancements. Today, it celebrates computer graphics as a cornerstone of the mainstream mediums of animation, visual effects, gaming, scientific/data visualisation, and storytelling.
Participants were invited to submit their best work for a chance to be featured in this showcase. An internationally recognised jury reviewed the work and awarded prizes for Best in Show, Best Student Project, and Jury’s Choice, whereas the Audience Choice prize is awarded after the premieres. Previous Best in Show winners have been nominated for and have received the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
Siggraph 2024 Electronic Theater awards were presented to:
● Best in Show: The Art of Weightlessness
Moshe Mahler with Carnegie Mellon University
An animated short film documentary that chronicles the evolution of artist and performer, Bill Shannon. Born with a degenerative hip condition, Bill developed new ways to express himself through dance and skateboarding on crutches.
● Best Student Project: After Grandpa
Juliette Michel, Swann Valenza, Florian Gomes Freitas, Axel Sence, and Victoria Leviaux with Ecole MoPA Haunted by the terrifying ghost of his Grandpa, Loup, a little boy obsessed with insects, will have to overcome his fear to discover why it came back.
● Jury’s Choice: Patterns
Alex Glawion
Struck by a barrage of intrusive encounters on his weekly commute, a perceptive traveller struggles to uphold the positive mindset that wards against the ever-lurking greyness.