SIGGRAPH 2002 Courses Teach Newest Computer Graphics Techniques for Interactive Systems, Games, Films, the Web, and Wireless Devices

Chicago, IL--ACM SIGGRAPH announced the content of the Coursesprogram for SIGGRAPH 2002, the 29th International Conference onComputer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, being held 21-26 July,Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas. The 2002Courses teach the newest computer graphics techniques for interactivesystems, games, films, the Web, and wireless devices. Courses contentis an example of SIGGRAPH's strategic goal of offering education thatapplies to both existing and emerging applications of computergraphics.

"Selected from a record-setting 100 submissions, we are offering 59courses in our program this year - 25 full-day, 26 half-day, and 8tutorials. The submissions were all of an unbelievably high quality,making the selection process very difficult," said Valerie Miller,SIGGRAPH 2002 Courses chair from Georgia State University. "The juryattempted to achieve a balance across different areas of interest aswell as different levels of expertise to provide something for everyattendee. This year, many courses are being offered in conjunction withother Conference programs, in particular the new Web Graphicsprogram."

"As new application areas of computer graphics emerge and othersgrow, the SIGGRAPH programs are changing so SIGGRAPH remains thedefinitive source for information and techniques in computer graphics,"said Tom Appolloni, SIGGRAPH 2002 Chair from Harris Corporation. "TheCourses content is an excellent example of this as the techniqueslearned can be applied in traditional areas as well as new ones likethe Web and wireless."

The SIGGRAPH 2002 Courses include:

MPEG-4: Next-Generation Standard for InteractiveMedia

Organizer: Klaus Diepold, DynaPel Laboratories GmbH

MPEG-4 is an international open standard that provides technologyfor creation and delivery of rich, interactive media transported viathe Internet or broadcast or wireless channels to a broad spectrum ofuser terminals ranging from set-top boxes to PDAs. This course presentsan overview of the tools and opportunities for creating interactivecontent with a blend of media technologies.

Dynamic Media on Demand: Exploring Wireless and WiredStreaming Technologies and Content

Organizer: Theresa-Marie Rhyne, North Carolina State University

This course highlights issues associated with streaming mediatechnologies and delivery of dynamic media and 3D content in wired andwireless environments. It summarizes media architectures and mediamanagement (storage, retrieval, and indexing challenges) andcompression, coding, and decoding issues. And it reviews protocols andstrategies for transmitting content via local, metropolitan, andwide-area wired and wireless networking. Since small, portable,wireless gadgets are becoming ubiquitous, it also addresses multimedia(2D and 3D) rendering on handheld devices, phones, and other thinclients

Motion Capture: Pipeline, Applications, and Use

Organizer: Suba Varadarajan, The Ohio State University

An introduction to motion capture, from initial planning to finalmapping of data to characters. Various uses of motion capture,including dance, human-motion analysis and recognition, characteranimation, and facial animation are presented. Using Maya, attendeesgain hands-on experience with applying motion to characters. Thiscourse will be taught in the Creative Applications Lab.

Simulating Nature: Realistic and InteractiveTechniques

Organizer: David Ebert, Purdue University

This summary of the state-of-the-art for simulating naturalphenomena in both research and commercial production environmentscovers realistic modeling, rendering, and animation of mountains;interactively navigable worlds; plants; trees; water; fire; smoke; andclouds. Practical aspects, interactive approximation, implementation,and future directions for research are discussed.

OpenGL 2.0

Organizer: Randi Rost, 3Dlabs, Inc.

OpenGL 2.0 is a major upgrade to the preeminent cross-platform 3Dgraphics standard, OpenGL. This course presents a status report on theOpenGL 2.0 effort and an overview of all of the new features in the newversion, including programmable shaders, programmable image formats,support for multipass rendering, better synchronization, and improvedperformance.

Character Setup From Rig Mechanics to Skin Deformations: APractical Approach

Organizer: Yaron Canetti, Summer Breeze

How body rigs, face rigs, pipeline integration, and muscles are usedin character setup for rig mechanics and skin deformations, with anemphasis on practical, production-tested approaches that useoff-the-shelf products.

Building Interactive Spaces

Organizer: Claudio Pinhanez, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

A survey of traditional and emerging technologies used for designand construction of new forms of immersive and interactive physicalspaces for offices, homes, and location-based entertainment. Basicconcepts are explored in four case studies and a participatory designexercise.

Design of Interactive Multimodal Media Systems

Organizer: Kellogg Booth, The University of British Columbia

How traditional human-computer-interaction methodologies augmentedwith theories and experimental findings from cognitive science addresschallenges posed by multimodal interaction using vision, haptics, andsound in conventional and immersive computer graphics environments.Attendees learn the theory and practice of multimodal interactiondesign in a multidisciplinary setting.

New for SIGGRAPH 2002 Courses start early on Sundaymorning and run through Wednesday of the conference week. For completeCourses information including, schedule, topics, prerequisites, andlecturers, please seewww.siggraph.org/s2002/conference/courses/index.html.

Registration information can be found at www.siggraph.org/s2002 orby contacting SIGGRAPH 2002 Conference Management, 401 N. MichiganAvenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611 USA. +1.312.321.6830 phone;+1.312.321.6876 fax; registration@siggraph.org.

SIGGRAPH 2002 will bring nearly 25,000 computer graphics andinteractive technology professionals from six continents to San Antoniofor the week-long conference, 21 - 26 July. A comprehensive technicalprogram and special events focusing on research, art, animation, games,interactivity, and the Web are planned. SIGGRAPH 2002 includes athree-day exhibition of products and services for the computer graphicsand interactive marketplace from 22 - 25 July 2002.

ACM SIGGRAPH, the leading professional society for computer graphicsand interactive techniques, sponsors SIGGRAPH 2002. Information on ACMSIGGRAPH membership and other conferences and activities can be foundat www.siggraph.org.