According to a report by Statista, the virtual reality hardware market is estimated to reach a value of US 7.3 billion dollars while the software market is estimated to reach a value of US 4.8 billion dollars in 2018. The increasing adoption of VR technology has propelled immersive environments to the forefront of the animation and digital imaging industry today. SIGGRAPH Asia 2016 will introduce a new Virtual Reality (VR) Showcase for the first time to explore emerging trends and applications in virtual reality.
From the 5 to 8 December in Macao, the ninth edition of SIGGRAPH Asia will showcase the world’s top professionals, academics and creative minds who are on the forefront of digital imaging, research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education and emerging technologies. The event is the region’s largest annual conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques. This year introduces a VR showcase to the conference, allowing attendees to delve deep into digital worlds and experience state-of-the-art technologies. The showcase will give them opportunities to learn about new approaches for creative expression and collaboration within immersive environments within the world of VR.
SIGGRAPH Asia’s Conference Chair and Associate Professor at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, Hongbo Fu says, “SIGGRAPH Asia has grown from strength to strength since its introduction in 2008. This year in Macao, delegates will be inspired by top-notch research innovations, learning opportunities as well as amazing digital artwork, creative animations, and emerging technologies. The newly introduced VR showcase aims to take delegates into unbelievable, immersive virtual worlds. Furthermore, delegates will be able to engage with industry leaders from Google, Facebook, Pixar, NVIDIA, DJI, Lytro, Fyusion, and more. SIGGRAPH Asia has always been the platform that brings academia and professionals together, and we hope that attendees will use this opportunity to explore, learn, experience and get connected, virtually and physically!”
This year’s edition is themed “Key to the Future” and will be showcasing innovative projects and emerging technologies for computer graphics and interactive techniques. More than 6,000 delegates from over 50 countries are expected to attend SIGGRAPH Asia, including industry professionals, academia and enthusiasts. There will also be a diverse range of programs, including an Art Gallery, Computer Animation Festival, Courses, Emerging Technologies, Posters, Symposium on Education, Symposium on Mobile Graphics and Interactive Applications, Symposium on Visualisation, Technical Briefs, Technical Papers, Workshops and the new VR Showcase.
Returning segments at this year’s SIGGRAPH Asia
This year’s edition will see the return of two programs – the Symposium on Education and the Symposium on Visualisation – both of which made their SIGGRAPH Asia debuts at last year’s event.
The Symposium on Education invites people from both academia and the industry to present innovative research, methods and positions about the teaching and integration of computer graphics (CG) and interactive techniques in all areas of learning.
This year’s Symposium on Visualisation explores the opportunities and challenges of cutting-edge visualisation techniques which facilitates human beings’ understanding of data sets. The program aims to cover the development, technology, and demonstration of visualisation techniques and their interactive applications. The Technical Papers program is a platform presenting new scholarly work in computer graphics and interactive techniques. Technical Papers are published as a special issue of ACM Transactions on Graphics.
Also returning is the Computer Animation Festival; Asia’s premier computer animation festival which showcases a world-wide collection of the year’s best works. The festival will comprise of screenings and panels including presentations by industry experts related to computer animation and visual effects.
The event’s exhibitors will demonstrate their newest developments in hardware and software applications. The exciting line-up of exhibitor talks and panel sessions will discuss product innovation and their new projects designed to improve technical performance. Some of the workshops, exhibitor talks and sessions taking place at SIGGRAPH Asia 2016 include:
- KanDao Technology- 3D VR Live Streaming Technology
- Meitu Inc- Image Beatification Technologies and More
- Khronos Graphics, Compute and Vision APIs – including Vulkan Next Generation GPU Acceleration
- Samsung R&D Institute China
- uSens