From July 30th to August 3rd in Los Angeles, the 44th annual SIGGRAPH will take place and showcase the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques. The event will host a collection of VR and AR projects but there will also be a VR Village housing highly interactive, content-driven experiences and the event organizers have a new focus for the relatively young collection of exhibits.
VR Village has welcomed art, simulation, and real-world applications in the past but the 2017 exhibit is focusing on diversity within the content and the content creators.
“We made a conscious effort for diversity — we tried to normalize our content to be as diverse as possible,” says the 2017 VR Village Chair Denise Quesnel. “We believe that diversity in content, and diversity of contributors, helps facilitate perspectives and opportunities that are of great benefit to attendees. The experiences that will be seen at this summer are not only outstanding examples of VR and AR but can only be experienced in SIGGRAPH’s unique VR Village space.”
Initiatives such as this, so early in the lives of these immersive industries, could build the VR and AR communities with strong ideals and many diverse perspectives. Such an effort breeds positivity and welcomes more and more people into the fold as the technology and experiences evolve over time. Here are a few of the highlights for content that will be on display at VR Village:
Neurable: Brain-Computer Interfaces for Virtual and Augmented Reality
Ramses Alcaide, Adam Molnar, and Michael Thompson, Neurable
Description: The product of neuroscientific insights and advanced machine learning, Neurable interprets user intent, bringing new degrees of freedom to virtual and augmented reality. It poses the question: “What if you could use your brainwaves to control your computer and virtual environment?” This installation does just that.
Out of Exile
Description: “Out of Exile” is the true story of Daniel Ashley Pierce, who was violently attacked by his family when confronted about his sexual orientation. The room-scale VR experience is a powerful parable of the hostility faced by many in the LGBTQ community.
“Emblematic Group does incredible work in the realm of VR journalism, and drawing attention to underrepresented communities and their stories. Emblematic Group participated in the first VR Village in 2015, so it is great to see their team back at SIGGRAPH 2017,” said Quesnel.
Digital Playgroundz: Demonz I.
Jakub Roček, Daniel Gregor, Ordřej Prucha, and Josef Kortan, INITI.org
Description: Digital Playgroundz is an interactive and augmented-reality system that displays large-scale applications on flat surfaces (walls) in various spatial configurations, with no limits on the number of users or size of the interactive area. Coming all the way from Prague in order to premiere a custom interactive and multi-user experience at VR Village, the folks at INITI.org make not only incredible art, but their own innovative technology to create scalable experiences.
HOLO-DOODLE
Terrence Masson, School of Visual Arts; Ken Perlin, New York University; Daffy London; and, Laura Dohrmann
Description: HOLO-DOODLE is a VR hangout that brings the VR experience of being a naughty robot killing time to life. The attraction makes its world premiere at SIGGRAPH 2017.
IRIDiuM+: Deep-Media Storytelling With Non-linear Light-Field Video
Maggie Kosek and Kenny Mitchell, Disney Research, Edinburgh Napier University, The Walt Disney Company; Babis Koniaris, David Sinclair, and Fraser Rothnie, Disney Research, The Walt Disney Company; and, Lanny Smoot, Disney Research
Description: This presentation depicts techniques and the creation process of a deep-media immersive experience with synchronized tactile, audio, and light-field visual techniques to realize a non-linear story in virtual reality.
Registration for SIGGRAPH 2017 is now open and Full Conference, Select Conference, and Exhibits Plus passes gain you access to VR Village. Be sure to take a look at our master list of VR conferences for 2017 to get your event schedule in order and catch the best the industry has to offer.
