SIGGRAPH 2010 Emerging Technologies Article
written for the Los Angeles Professional Chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH
© 2010, Kim Van Hoven
Images used by permission of ACM SIGGRAPH

There are a myriad of good reasons why we love to attend the yearly SIGGRAPH conference. Whether you are there to be inspired by the insights of keynote speakers such as Jim Morris of Disney-Pixar, delve into the Job Fair, boost your skill set with a few Courses, test-drive some new tools at The Studio, expand your professional network at the Birds of a Feather events, enjoy watching new animations from around the world at the Festival Screenings, rub elbows with the experts at the moderated discussion Panels, ask questions from the authors of the informative Art Papers, feed your senses at the Art Gallery, explore the new products and services on the Exhibition show floor, or just enjoy the excuse to mill about with like-minded folks at the beautiful Los Angeles Convention Center, your SIGGRAPH experience would not be complete without a visit to the Emerging Technologies arena.

Emerging Technologies exhibits include interactive and hands-on demonstrations of some of the most compelling devices and applications for the computer graphics industry. Some of these inventions are being shown publicly for the first time. Many of them will be developed into products you may be using in the near future. In fact, Emerging Technologies is the place where you will glimpse the designs and applications of the future. In that sense, Emerging Technologies is a veritable launch pad for inspiration, so you will definitely want to put it on your conference calendar.

Emerging Technologies provides a forum for conference attendees to witness live demonstrations of new and innovative technologies, to interact with the displays, and to ask questions of the inventors. The 22 compelling applications being shown this year come from varied industries, from robotics to sensory simulators, and were chosen from 107 international submissions.

Listed below are excerpts from the SIGGRAPH 2010 web site, highlighting a few of the things you will be able to see and interact with at the Emerging Technologies. Click here (http://www.siggraph.org/s2010/for_attendees/emerging_technologies/) to read the full article.

1. Acroban the Humanoid
   Olivier Ly, INRIA/LaBRI; Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, INRIA

   

   Acroban is the first humanoid robot able to demonstrate playful, compliant, and intuitive physical interaction while moving and is able to keep its equilibrium even during unpredicted interactions.

   Potential Future Use: The system is presented in an entertainment human-robot interaction context specifically meant to engage children. In this demonstration, the robot has a range of behaviors that it combines in order to react intuitively, naturally, and creatively to uncontrolled external intervention.
2. AirTiles: Modular Devices to Create a Flexible Sensing Space
   Kazuki Iida, Junki Ikeuchi, Toshiaki Uchiyama, Kenji Suzuki, University of Tsukuba

   

   AirTiles is a modular device that allows users to create geometric shapes in the real world and add a flexible sensing space within the created shape. In this interactive audio/visual environment, users can freely manipulate and rotate the device so that a geometrical shape appears on the floor.

   Potential Future Use: AirTile could be used in exercise routines, human-behavior measurement, and motion-guidance systems.
3. In-Air Typing Interface for Mobile Devices with Vibration Feedback
   Takehiro Niikura, Yuki Hirobe, Alvaro Cassinelli, Yoshihiro Watanabe, Takashi Komuro, Masatoshi Ishikawa, and Atsushi Matsutani, The University of Tokyo

   

   This vision-based 3D input interface for mobile devices does not require space on the surface of the device, other physical devices, or specific environments. Based on a camera with a wide-angle lens, it can operate in a wide 3D space.

   Potential Future Use: This device could one day replace the need for physical keyboards across all hardware.
4. Meta Cookie
   Takuji Narumi, The University of Tokyo; Takashi Kajinami, The University of Tokyo; Tomohiro Tanikawa, The University of Tokyo; Michitaka Hirose, The University of Tokyo

   

   Meta Cookie is a novel pseudo-gustation system to change the perceived taste of a cookie by overlaying visual and olfactory information onto a real cookie with an augmented reality (AR) marker by using AR and olfactory display technology.

   Potential Future Use: Meta Cookie combines augmented reality technology and olfactory display technology. Merging these two technologies creates a revolutionary interactive gustatory display that reveals a new horizon for computer-human interaction.
   Meta Cookie combines augmented reality and olfactory display technologies to change the perceived taste of a real cookie. © 2010 The University of Tokyo, Takuji Narumi.

Find a complete list of the Emerging Technologies on display at SIGGRAPH 2010 here (http://www.siggraph.org/s2010/for_attendees/emerging_technologies).

Watch the Emerging Technologies Trailer here (http://www.siggraph.org/s2010/for_attendees/emerging_technologies/siggra...).

About SIGGRAPH 2010

For the 37th year, computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from around the world will gather to share information, network, and increase their knowledge about all things CG-centric. An expected 25,000 attendees and presenters from the art, animation, music, gaming, internet, interactive, educational, and scientific communities will convene at the Los Angeles Convention Center for the conference and exhibitions, which run July 25th - July 29th. More info here: www.siggraph.org/s2010

About ACM SIGGRAPH

The ACM Special Interest Group of Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques is a global group of users, researchers and developers from varied artistic, interactive and technical industries which utilize computer graphics. Through conferences, publications, and local professional and student chapters they serve to enrich and support the CG community by promoting the generation and dissemination of information about computer graphics and interactive techniques..
More info here: http://www.siggraph.org/

About ACM

ACM, the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, delivers resources that advance computing as a science and a profession. ACM provides the computing field's premier Digital Library and serves its members and the computing profession with leading-edge publications, conferences, and career resources.
More info here: http://www.acm.org/