SIGGRAPHITTI Issue 1 - April 2014

Technical Papers Sneak Peek

This year, the Technical Papers program received a total of 505 completed submissions! After committee review, 127 of them have been conditionally accepted, accounting for a 25% acceptance rate. In addition, 46 papers, published in ACM Transactions on Graphics during the course of the last year, will be presented at SIGGRAPH 2014.

“As is SIGGRAPH tradition, the quality of this year’s Technical Papers content was superb,” said Adam Finkelstein, Technical Papers Chair from Princeton University. “Not only did we receive outstanding work in the traditional areas of modeling, rendering, animation, and imaging, but we also noticed two emerging fields in design/fabrication and learning.” 

For a sneak peek of what's to come, see below!

Design/Fabrication

Computational Design of Linkage-Based Characters
Authors: Bernhard Thomaszewski, Stelian Coros, Disney Research Zürich; Eitan Grinspun, Columbia University; Vittorio Megaro, ETH Zürich; Markus Gross, Disney Research Zürich, ETH Zürich; Damien Gauge, ETH Zürich
 
This paper presents a design system for linkage-based mechanical characters. The system allows users to interactively browse different design options, while a continuous optimization step improves motion quality and safeguards against singularities.
 
Interactive Design and Optimization of Free-Formed Free-Flight Model Airplanes
Authors: Nobuyuki Umetani, The University of Tokyo, Autodesk Research; Yuki Koyama, The University of Tokyo; Ryan Schdmit, Autodesk Research; Takeo Igarashi, The University of Tokyo
 
This paper introduces novel interactive techniques for designing original hand-launched free-flight glider airplanes that can actually fly. Based on a compact aerodynamics model, a user-designed wing configuration is interactively optimized to maximize flight-worthiness.
 

Learning

Self-Refining Games Using Player Analytics
Authors: Matt Stanton, Ben Humberston, Brandon Kase, Carnegie Mellon University; James O'Brien, University of California, Berkeley; Kayvon Fatahalian, Adrien Treuille, Carnegie Mellon University
 
Data-driven simulation demands good training data. In games, users explore a small subset of the configuration space. In this paper, a precomputed fluid dynamics game uses crowd sourcing to learn user behavior models that predict the most frequently encountered configurations. Precomputation is concentrated around these states, reducing model error and visual artifacts. 
 
Learning Bicycle Stunts
Authors: Jie Tan, Yuting Gu, Karen Liu, and Greg Turk, Georgia Institute of Technology
 
This paper presents a general approach to simulate and control a human character riding a bicycle. The rider not only learns to steer and balance in normal riding situations, but also learns to perform a wide variety of stunts, including wheelie, endo, bunny hop, front wheel pivot, and back hop.
 

Take Note: You definitely won't want to miss the paper presentations at SIGGRAPH 2014. Occurring from Monday through Thursday, 10-14 August, the 35 paper sessions will highlight 173 technical papers!

Book Your Vancouver Accommodations

SIGGRAPH 2014 has negotiated discount rates for hotels in Vancouver. These discounts are available to SIGGRAPH 2014 attendees only. Reservations made after 14 July are based on availability only and rates may increase. 

SIGGRAPH 2014 hotel rates can only be booked through Experient, Inc., the official SIGGRAPH 2014 hotel provider. If you are contacted by any other companies to make hotel reservations for SIGGRAPH 2014, be aware they may not be reputable companies or endorsed by SIGGRAPH 2014.  
 
Why Stay in An Official SIGGRAPH 2014 Hotel?
It's an important decision: where to sleep during SIGGRAPH 2014. If you have friends or family in Vancouver, and they're willing to host you for five or more days, that might be your best option. Your second-best option is one of the official SIGGRAPH 2014 hotels. Here's why: 
 
  1. Official hotels have been inspected and carefully selected by SIGGRAPH. They’re SIGGRAPH-endorsed. They're cool, comfortable, and convenient.
  2. In the official hotels, you're closer to SIGGRAPH friends and colleagues. It's much easier to connect in real life over breakfast, lunch, coffee, drinks, or dinner.
  3. Most official hotels are within walking distance of the Vancouver Convention Centre or near quick, easy transportation links.
  4. You can discuss questions or concerns directly with the helpful people at SIGGRAPH 2014's offical hotel desk in the convention center. 
  5. Booking terms are very reasonable when you use the official online reservation system: No change fees. No full prepayment.
  6. The official discounted rates are guaranteed until 14 July 2014.
  7. If you use other hotel-reservation systems, you have to live with their way-too-complicated terms and conditions. And if you have a reservation or room problem, SIGGRAPH 2014 can't help you negotiate with the hotel.
  8. Future hotel rates and registration fees will remain reasonable, because SIGGRAPH's negotiating position with host cities and hotel companies will be stronger. 
  9. It's the right thing to do, for yourself, the SIGGRAPH community, and your favorite conference. 
 
Begin planning your trip now! Register for SIGGRAPH 2014 to experience all that the SIGGRAPH community has to offer. 
 

What To See & Do In Vancouver

Majestic mountains, sparkling ocean, rainforests, and beautiful foliage in all four seasons make Vancouver one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It's no surprise Condé Nast Magazine named it the "Best City in the Americas."
 
Canada is known for its people's friendly nature, and Vancouver's citizens take great pride in their welcoming, clean, safe streets--day or night, all year round. Friendly with a laid-back vibe, Vancouver is home to a seemingly endless playground with activities and adventure for everyone. Visitors experience a modern, cosmopolitan city that blends culture and landscape.
 
Click here for some helpful traveling tips. 
 
"You're gorgeous, baby, you're sophisticated, you live well...Vancouver is Manhattan with mountains. It's a liquid city, a tomorrow city, equal parts India, China, England, France and the Pacific Northwest. It's the cool North American sibling." - The New York Times
 
Top 5: Best of Vancouver in Summer
Enjoying SIGGRAPH 2014 this year? You're in luck. During the brief, beautiful summer months, the city comes to life with vibrant festivals, patio dining and Canada's best beaches, not to mention great outdoor opportunities.

Here's how to soak up the best of Vancouver this summer according to the Vancouver Convention Bureau:

  • Get a tan on Vancouver's urban beaches: Unique for a city of its size, Vancouver has 10 ocean beaches, all boasting clear, clean water and white sand.  Insider tip: For the consummate urban beach experience, head to English Bay, a stunning scallop of sand located right in the downtown core.  
  • All aboard for an Alaskan cruise: Summer is cruise season in Vancouver. More than a dozen major lines embark here, offering cruises through Canada's stunning Inside Passage, packed with whales and marine life, and onto the Alaskan glaciers. 
  • Explore the old growth forests of Stanley Park: Larger than Manhattan's Central Park, 1,000-acre Stanley Park is an easy stroll from downtown Vancouver. A network of biking and walking paths winds along ocean-side cliffs, past secluded beaches, and deep into old growth forests. 
  • Dine alfresco on the patios of Yaletown: The city's trendy warehouse district, Yaletown is lined with progressive restaurants and great outdoor patios. For some of Vancouver's best seafood, grab a table on the terrace of Blue Water Café and watch Yaletown's beautiful people stroll by. 
  • Shakespeare anyone? The perfect end to a day in Vancouver, Bard on the Beach is a summer-long Shakespeare festival staged in oceanfront Vanier Park. Admire a Vancouver sunset while internationally acclaimed troupes bring the bard's classics to life.
 
Downtown Vancouver
Vancouver has an easily walkable core, in fact, it's been named "Canada's most walkable city" by Up Magazine. Click here to view the Vancouver downtown map featuring the Convention Centre and Tourism Vancouver's Visitor Centre.
 

Mobile Pavilion: New This Year!

The SIGGRAPH 2014 Mobile Pavilion is where the mobile, embedded, and low-power industries come together: the leading IP companies, top app developers, device manufacturers, and mobile-operating-system developers. With the unparalleled capabilities of modern mobile devices, this market is enjoying unprecedented growth and generating access to untapped revenues for organizations that are committed to this technology.
 
SIGGRAPH 2014 explores the latest mobile advances with its SIGGRAPH program, which showcases sessions by industry experts, developer workshops, and panels of market luminaries. Now, with the Mobile Pavilion on the Exhibition floor, the conference is also demonstrating technologies that leverage hands-on opportunities and interactions. If you are a leading IP company, OEM/ODM, or mobile OS or technology developer, visit the Mobile Pavilion in the SIGGRAPH 2014 Exhibition and interact with attendees who are creating the mobile, embedded, and Internet-of-Things future.
 
Stake your claim to that future by joining the debut of this cutting-edge pavilion at SIGGRAPH 2014. For more information about the SIGGRAPH 2014 Mobile Pavilion, please contact Exhibition Management and review the Exhibition Floor Plan.
 

Birds of a Feather

Informal presentations, discussions, and demonstrations for people who share interests, goals, technologies, environments, or backgrounds. Birds of a Feather events are proposed by SIGGRAPH 2014 attendees. They must be free of charge, related to computer graphics or interactive techniques, and non-commercial in nature (topics specific to one commercial product or for-profit company are not allowed).
 
All Birds of a Feather requests are subject to a review and approval process.
 
If you would like to present on a specific product or service, please contact Exhibition Management to schedule an Exhibitor Tech Talk.
 
For a preliminary list of Birds of a Feather, click here. 
 

It's Time to Register!

SIGGRAPH 2014 is returning to Vancouver this summer and we can't wait to see you there! Register now and meet us at the Vancouver Convention Centre 10-14 August for the Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques event of the year. Where else can you interact with the best and brightest in art, science, and technology?

 

See Below for SIGGRAPH 2014 Registration Categories:

Full Conference Access Pass*

Includes admission to ALL conference programs and events, including the Art Gallery, Art Papers, Awards Presentation, Birds of a Feather, Computer Animation Festival-Daytime Selects, Computer Animation Festival-Electronic Theater, Courses, Dailies, Emerging Technologies, Exhibition, Exhibitor Tech Talks, Exhibits Fast Forward, International Resources, Job Fair, Keynote Sessions, Panels, Posters, Production Sessions, Real-Time Live!, Reception, Studio, Talks, Technical Papers, and Technical Papers Fast Forward.
 
*Note: The Full Conference Access Pass is the only pass that allows access to Courses, Panels, Technical Papers, Talks, and the Reception.
 
Full Conference One-Day Pass
Includes one day admission to ALL conference programs and events and the Exhibition (Tuesday - Thursday). Does not include reception ticket.
 
Select Conference Pass
Includes admission to the Art Gallery, Art Papers, Awards Presentation, Birds of a Feather, Computer Animation Festival-Daytime Selects, Computer Animation Festival-Electronic Theater, Dailies, Emerging Technologies, Exhibitor Tech Talks, Exhibits Fast Forward, International Resources, Job Fair, Keynote Sessions, Posters, Production Sessions, Real-Time Live!, Studio, Technical Papers Fast Forward, and all days of the Exhibition (Tuesday – Thursday). Does not include reception ticket.
 
Select Conference One Day Pass
Includes one day admission to the Art Gallery, Awards Presentation, Birds of a Feather, Computer Animation Festival-Daytime Selects, Computer Animation Festival Electronic Theater, Dailies, Emerging Technologies, Exhibitor Tech Talks, Exhibits Fast Forward, International Resources, Job Fair, Keynote Session, Posters, Production Sessions, Real-Time Live!, Studio, Technical Papers Fast Forward, and all days of the Exhibition (Tuesday – Thursday). Does not include reception ticket.
 
Exhibits Plus Pass
Includes admission to the Art Gallery, Birds of a Feather, Emerging Technologies, Exhibits Fast Forward, Exhibitor Tech Talks, Job Fair, Posters, Studio, Technical Papers Fast Forward, and the Exhibition (Tuesday - Thursday). Does not include Electronic Theater or reception ticket.
 
 

Issue Sponsor: Cinefex