SIGGRAPH 2011 – More on Emerging Technologies

By ACM SIGGRAPH Chapter Reporter Dolores Vazquez Wood (VJ Pain)

With SIGGRAPH fast-approaching, the wait is nearly over – soon we will get to see and experience the latest and greatest that the industry has to offer. After getting a glimpse into this year’s Emerging Technologies exhibit (courtesy of the interview on the SIGGRAPH Media Blog), we had some additional questions we just had to ask.

The following is a brief interview with Cole Krumbholz, this year’s Emerging Technologies Chair, who very kindly took the time to speak with us. Below, he shares his insight on some of the new developments for this year’s exhibit, as well as his thoughts on the future of the field in general.

We heard that Emerging Technologies will extend beyond physical location in the convention centre this year. How will this be achieved?

We're trying a new thing this year where each Emerging Technologies piece will have a QR code. This code can be scanned by a mobile device and will provide additional information about the piece. It will also link you to a page where you can easily tweet about the work, and see other comments regarding the piece. This will extend the experience outside the conference by allowing people to share their thoughts with others around the world.

What are the expected results of this change?

Hopefully this will increase awareness of all the amazing things that are happening at SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies.

How do you see the fields of: games, medicine, communication and art relating to each other?

The tools that enable these different fields are becoming smaller, more pervasive and less intentional. Technology is becoming like a fluid, seeping into previously low-tech aspects of our lives, dissolving and blending domains that were previously distinct. The result is to make games, medicine, communication and art inseparable. These fields are centrally about self, and as these and other fields are homogenized by technology, we will see ourselves reflected back in every aspect of our lives.

What kind of individuals or dynamic does it take to make the interaction between these different disciplines work?

I think the primary connection point will be the profile. Today, in order to interact with the technological world you must create many different profiles. Soon profile information will be shared and consolidated. The profile will be at the center, with services like medicine, art, communication and games attached.

What technologies presented in Emerging Technologies do you foresee becoming mainstream in the next five years? Or being used in existing consumer products?

Right now virtual and physical environments are largely distinct. In order to participate in the virtual world, we must temporarily excuse ourselves from the physical situation. I see that line becoming more permeable, and technologies like Telenoid and Face-To-Avatar are on the cutting edge. In the next five years, more examples of physical avatars will crop up, and the virtual world will participate more in our real-world social interactions.

New technologies are increasingly emulating reality by stimulating human senses (other than just sight and hearing). As such, users are increasingly able to cross over boundaries "feeling" and experiencing sensations traditionally only available to a subset of the population. For example, "Mommy Tummy" presented in this year's lineup allows users to get a physical glimpse of what it is like to be pregnant. Do you foresee future advances in technologies such as virtual reality breaking down experiential boundaries of age, race, etc.? If so, how?

One of the most powerful ways we can breakdown these boundaries is through language and by eliminating prejudice. The internet is the clear MVP in this fight. It allows us to redefine ourselves and discover the infinite variety that constitutes the human condition.

When it comes to direct sensory simulation, most of our progress has taken advantage of perceptual loop-holes. For example, parallax motion and binocular disparity can be used to trick the brain into perceiving a three dimensional scene. Clever technology can blend psychology and physiology to create a truly novel experience that allows us to peer into an otherwise inaccessible world. However, the most general purpose virtual reality tools are still imagination and compassion, and we should take care not to abandon these tools as we adopt more convenient technologies.

With the Art Gallery and Emerging Technologies seemingly relating more to each other every year, what keeps them distinct from one another? Do you foresee this changing in the future?

The major difference between the two is the message. Art works must have a fully developed message, while Emerging Technologies submissions are evaluated primarily on their contribution to the state of the art of interactive technology. I don't see this changing anytime soon.

What technology or idea would you most like to see exhibited or explored as part of an Emerging Technologies exhibit?

I would like to see biometric data employed in novel ways. The Medical Mirror offers a glimpse of how a simple biometric measurement can be the basis of an interactive experience. I imagine there is an entire space of interaction design, stemming from biometric sensors, that has yet to be explored SIGGRAPH style.

 

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