SIGGRAPH 2024 Gathers the International Community to Explore Production, Virtual Reality Immersive Storytelling, and a Prestigious Animation Showcase

The 51st annual conference demonstrates advancements in the computer graphics industry across all avenues while sparking inspiration, starting conversations, and looking toward the trends of tomorrow

DENVER, June 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- While celebrating more than 50 years of being the world's leading education experience in the computer graphics industry, SIGGRAPH 2024 understands the value of sparking conversations about the content of the future. With this, the conference, held from Sunday, 28 July to Thursday, 1 August, 2024, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, will feature several opportunities for attendees to get a closer glimpse at the future of the industry's trends. There will be Production Sessions dedicated to the future of production, exploration of the new age of immersive experiences in the VR Theater, and spotlights of the ingenuity of diverse creators in the Electronic Theater.

The SIGGRAPH 2024 Production Sessions allow attendees to 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. Within these sessions, SIGGRAPH 2024 sought stories highlighting a macro view of behind-the-scenes innovation, creativity, inclusion, and collaboration demonstrated during recent productions. Through 60-minute presentations, leaders from across the industry 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," Jonathan Nitiparsong, SIGGRAPH 2024 Production Sessions Chair, noted. "SIGGRAPH showcases some of the most cutting-edge tools and interactive techniques that make things better, and Production Sessions are often the first place where people are able to see some of these new technologies and production skills in use," he added.

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".

In addition to this year's Production Sessions, SIGGRAPH 2024 will offer immersive VR Theater experiences. The VR Theater is a world-class showcase of exemplary virtual reality storytelling and a staple SIGGRAPH program since 2017. The main program will be experienced in a high-end, seated, panoramic, multi-viewer immersive space, running approximately one hour from start to finish. New this year, participants will enter a mixed reality SIGGRAPH-branded lobby before each experience. SIGGRAPH 2024 aims to give attendees a fresh perspective on innovative, important, and inspiring virtual reality stories through a curated selection of short-form narratives. The experience 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. It will highlight various intriguing uses of the VR medium for storytelling, including showcasing technical innovations.

"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 Theater Director Yangos Hadjiyannis said. "I'm glad to see the medium's evolution in that way. 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," he added. 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 on 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 SIGGRAPH 2024 experience also features an Electronic Theater, which qualifies for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is widely recognized for its groundbreaking 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 visualization, and storytelling.

"Given how much buzz is going around with generative AI, it's more enhanced. I think when the audience sees the show, they will hopefully appreciate the aesthetic value in choices made to use those tools beyond what is traditionally known as the process of putting text-prompted imagery into a project," John Kalaigian, SIGGRAPH 2024 Electronic Theater Director, said. "Sometimes, the results could be jarring and very obvious. So I think the most important thing is the caliber of which SIGGRAPH holds the content that it presents is increasingly getting higher."

Participants were invited to submit their best work for a chance to be featured in this prestigious showcase. An internationally recognized 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 traveler struggles to uphold the positive mindset that wards against the ever-lurking grayness.

"We are on the heels of a monumental year in 2023, celebrating the 50th conference. I think there's still a little sense of celebration in the air but definitely a homecoming of sorts returning back to Colorado not too far from the first conference site in Boulder. The Computer Animation Festival is excited to bring back additional screening opportunities, which we're calling the Animation Theater Daytime Selects. These will be two independent show reels that will also accompany the main Electronic Theater show," Kalaigian added.

Learn more about how SIGGRAPH 2024 is an important element in identifying the trends of tomorrow and what participants can expect here. The ACM SIGGRAPH Blog, including an interview with Paul Story, Phillip Leonhardt, Erik Winquist, Aidan Martin, and Kevin Smith to discuss their SIGGRAPH 2024 Production Session "Monkeys, Chimps & Gorillas: Wētā FX's (r)Evolutionary Work With Primates," highlights additional details of the Production Sessions, VR Theater, and Electronic Theater programs.

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