Computer Graphics Community Return to Colorado Highlighted by Transformative Technology Talks and Creative Exhibitions

Week-long Conference Also Recognizes "Best of" Industry With Premier Awards

DENVER, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SIGGRAPH 2024 was a milestone conference for many reasons. It was the first time the world's premier conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques has returned to Colorado since its founding at The University of Colorado in Boulder 51 years ago. The conference — which ran from 28 July through 1 August, 2024, at the Colorado Convention Center — brought together nearly 9,000 industry professionals from around the world and was highlighted by a rare joint public appearance with NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang and Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Huang and Zuckerberg didn't just go viral swapping jackets on stage. The tech giants' conversation exploring the transformative potential of open source AI and AI assistants and Zuckerberg's introduction of AI Studio at the top of the talk quickly made international headlines (watch the livestream). The CEOs were two of several world-class visionaries and leaders who gave Keynote Presentations discussing the full scope of the impact of computer graphics and interactive techniques from the cosmos to the microscopic and everything in between. From Dr. Dava Newman with MIT Media Lab exploring the macro discussing the "overview effect" from space that lets us appreciate Earth's interconnected systems through supercomputer data visualizations to Manu Prakash of Stanford University speaking to the micro end of the spectrum and how the use of frugal science can impact social change.

At the conclusion of this year's event, SIGGRAPH 2024 Conference Chair Andrés Burbano of the Open University of Catalonia said, "SIGGRAPH 2024 was a unique experience marked by rich content and vibrant interactions across the arts, science, and technology. The thought-provoking sessions and dynamic dialogues have truly fostered the idea of a desirable future of computer graphics and interactive techniques in the industry and the conference itself. Our commitment to international participation and engaging industry leaders enhances the discussions and cross-cultural exchange taking place at the conference, ultimately making our industry stronger and more diverse. We are proud to have brought together global perspectives, paving the way for the next 50 years of innovation in the field."

SIGGRAPH 2024 played host to the latest innovations in art, science, technology, and more throughout its five-day stay in downtown Denver. It was attended by an international audience hailing from 76 countries including the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Nigeria, and more. The conference and exhibition also played host to a variety of diverse exhibitors on the show floor, each showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques, products, and services.

Other highlights include the 15th anniversary of Real-Time Live!; the first-ever SIGGRAPH for Peace with humanitarian leader Yves Daccord, former Director General of the International Red Cross; the presentation of more than 250 research papers; the Computer Animation Festival's Electronic Theater and the return of Animation Theater Daytime Selects; SIGGRAPH's Educator's Forum; Production Sessions focusing on film, games, and TV, including a look at the VFX of "Dune: Part Two" and the balance of animation in "Kung Fu Panda 4"; and a Talk with Google sharing its framework for "Project Starline"; Courses like Natalya Tatarchuk's fan-favorite "Advances in Real-Time Rendering in Games"; and virtual reality storytelling in the VR Theater. Attendees also enjoyed digital art installations and emerging and immersive demonstrations within the Experience Hall.

SIGGRAPH 2024 also celebrated this year's contributors by honoring some "best of" from various programs, including:

Art Gallery
Best in Show — "Rage Against the Archive"
Anshul Roy

Art Papers
Best Art Paper — "Critical Climate Machine: A Visual and Musical Exploration of Climate Misinformation through Machine Learning"
Gaëtan Robillard and Jérôme Nika

Computer Animation Festival: Electronic Theater
Best in Show — "The Art of Weightlessness"
Moshe Mahler

Jury's Choice — "Patterns"
Alex Glawion

Best Student Project — "After Grandpa"
Juliette Michel, Swann Valenza, Florian Gomes Freitas, Axel Sence, and Victoria Leviaux

Audience Choice — "LUKI & the Lights"
Toby Cochran

Emerging Technologies
Best in Show — "A Live Demo of Single-photon Imaging and Applications"
Sacha Jungerman, Varun Sundar, and Mohit Gupta

Audience Choice — "The Malleable-Self Experience: Transforming Body Image by Integrating Visual and Whole-body Haptic Stimuli"
Tanner Person, Nobuhisa Hanamitsu, Danny Hynds, Sohei Wakisaka, Kota Isobe, Leonard Mochizuki, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and Kouta Minamizawa

Immersive Pavilion
Best in Show — "MOFA: Multiplayer Onsite Fighting Arena"
Botao Amber Hu, Yuchen Zhang, Sizheng Hao, and Yilan Tao

Real-Time Live!
Best in Show and Audience Choice — "Mesh Mortal Combat: Real-Time Voxelized Soft-Body Destruction"
Tim McGraw

Technical Papers
Best Paper Awards
"From Microfacets to Participating Media: A Unified Theory of Light Transport With Stochastic Geometry"
Dario Seyb, Eugene d'Eon, Benedikt Bitterli, and Wojciech Jarosz

"Walkin' Robin: Walk on Stars With Robin Boundary Conditions"
Bailey Miller, Rohan Sawhney, Keenan Crane, Ioannis Gkioulekas

"Repulsive Shells"
Josua Sassen, Henrik Schumacher, Martin Rumpf, Keenan Crane

"Lightning-Fast Method of Fundamental Solutions"
Jiong Chen, Florian Schäfer, and Mathieu Desbrun

"Robust Containment Queries Over Collections of Rational Parametric Curves via Generalized Winding Numbers"
Jacob Spainhour, David Gunderman, and Kenneth Weiss

VR Theater
Best in Show — "Emperor"
Oriane Hurard with Atlas V

SIGGRAPH 2024 Mobile and Virtual Access is available until 1 September 2024. To learn more and register for access to on-demand conference content, visit s2024.SIGGRAPH.org.

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