Siggraph ’12
August 7, 2012, Siggraph, Los Angeles—The conference had the theme of "I am Art, I am Science" and included many interesting presentations and work descriptions. The mobile and production sessions highlighted the growing complexity and efforts needed to create graphics and images via a computer. It also illustrated the increasing levels of interactive techniques in all areas of creation.
The special features like the art gallery and emerging technologies areas were intriguing. The art gallery held a survey of thematic art. Some of the emerging technologies are good indications of possible directions for future new technologies. The imagination and creativity of the researchers is truly amazing. Some of the exhibits might have benefited from a different setting but, overall, the enthusiasm offset the settings.
Some of the cinema sessions provided insights into the myriad production details, from lighting—including real, CG, and mixed—to editing, rendering, and the efforts needed to mix various modes of content. The mix of art and technology is accelerated by the latest electronics and the creative people are being separated from the limitations of the technologies to the point where their imaginations are unfettered.
The content of the conference was wonderful, but the organization and coordination was lacking. One example, on the opening day the press was invited to a press conference, to be followed by a preview of the show floor. The press conference started at 8 followed by a trip to the floor at 8:30. The exhibitors were told we were coming at 9, so we got to a mostly dark exhibit area where most of the booths were still in set-up mode.
Only about a half dozen booths were ready for the preview, and were indicated on a marked up map. These were the only maps of the exhibit area that were not on line. The signage and schedules were conspicuous in their brevity and general lack of detail. Perhaps the various committees assume that everyone has and is using a smart phone or tablet, and can easily maneuver across high and low resolution floorplans.
The main keynotes were in a large room with a single entry point, so a few thousand people has to file through a pair of doors. It took about 20 minutes to fill the auditorium and at least that to empty it. Did the local fire marshal ok this procedure? Getting out probably would not be too great of an issue, since there were many doors that lead to the outside areas.
