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SIGGRAPH 2019 to Tackle Facial Animation, AI, Ethics in Games, Showcase Future of Real-time Production in L.A. From Research to Live Demos, the Conference Offers Can’t-Miss Experience for Production Enthusiasts

CHICAGO—SIGGRAPH 2019 announces Real-Time Live! and Games programming for the upcoming conference in L.A., which will shine a light on topics including but not limited to facial animation, AI, ethics, and the future of real-time production. In addition, “Il Divino: Michelangelo's Sistine Ceiling in VR” will debut at the show, powered by Unreal Engine. SIGGRAPH 2019 is set for 28 July–1 August at the Los Angeles Convention Center. A fan-favorite, live event, Real-Time Live! showcases how essential real-time technology is and continues to be in revolutionizing the way we interact in an increasingly connected society. Following a theme of “thrive on live,” the innovations that teams will demo are well-positioned to enhance future technological applications. “We have a great lineup of demos prepared this year and I am so excited to share the work our jury culled from nearly 50 submissions,” said SIGGRAPH 2019 Real-Time Live! Chair Gracie Arenas Strittmatter. “I hope you’ll join us as we take a look back at the past decade of Real-Time Live! and journey into its promising future. Our contributors will share new applications for robotics, ray tracing, AI, VR, games, film, and much more.” Taking the future of production further, Games programming at SIGGRAPH spans many areas of the conference, including Talks, Panels, the Computer Animation Festival, Appy Hour, the Immersive Pavilion, and more. In collaboration with one another, the conference committee and reviewers work together to help spotlight creators, visionaries, and pioneers within the games industry from the world’s leading studios. Content is presented through sessions and demos that spotlight the latest rendering techniques, real-time tricks, asset pipelines, facial animation, advances in hardware and software, production challenges and accomplishments, virtual and augmented reality, and beyond. Noted SIGGRAPH 2019 Games Co-chair Christopher Evans, “At SIGGRAPH 2019, attendees can expect to immerse themselves in the most engaging new gaming technologies and techniques. In addition to being a key place to learn about the latest research in games, the speakers and experiences lined up this year shine a light on the ways the industry is thriving.” Alongside a handful of Courses, Production Sessions, and Technical Papers, highlights for games and real-time production content include:

REAL-TIME LIVE! Real-Time, Single Camera, Digital Human Development Contributors: Doug Roble, Darren Hendler, Jeremy Buttell, Lonnie Iannazzo, Melissa Cell, Deer Li, Jason Briggs, Chad Reddick, Mark Williams, Lucio Moser, Cydney Wong, Dimitry Kachkovski, Jason Huang, Kai Zhang, David McLean, Rickey Cloudsdale, Dan Milling, Ron Miller, JT Lawrence, and Chinyu Chien, Digital Domain Digital Domain Virtual Human will demonstrate our state-of-the-art, real-time, live-drive, digital human technology. We will show how photo-real digital humans with realistic facial animation can change the VR/AR experience. “Reality vs. Illusion” Real-Time Ray Tracing Contributors: Natalie Burke, Arisa Scott, Natalya Tatarchuk, and Sebastien Lagarde, Unity Technologies We seamlessly transition from the filmed real-world car to the car ray traced in real-time powered by Unity, demonstrating advanced effects of real-time ray tracing technology in a live demo – dynamic global reflections and GI, multi-layer transparency with refraction, area lights, shadows, ambient occlusion, and more. IMMERSIVE PAVILION Il Divino: Michelangelo's Sistine Ceiling in VR Contributors: Christopher Evans, Epic Games Experience Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling in virtual reality. Move around the space or take a guided tour. Users can also suspend on a virtual scaffold to see the work up close as few have seen it before. The experience will use the all-new Valve INDEX headset. PANELS FACS at 40 Panelists: Mike Seymour, University of Sydney and fxguide (moderator); Erika Rosenberg, Stanford University and Erika Rosenberg Consulting; Vladimir Mastilovic, 3Lateral; Mark Sagar, Soul Machines; and, John Peter Lewis, Google AI Read overview. The Ethical and Privacy Implications of Mixed Reality Panelists: Kent Bye, Voices of VR Podcast (moderator); Diane Hosfelt, Mozilla; Matt Miesnieks, 6D.AI; Samantha Mathews Chase, Venn.Agency; and, Taylor Beck, Magic Leap Read overview. TALKS THRIVE – Foundational Principles & Technologies for the Metaverse Speaker: Tim Sweeney, Epic Games Science-fiction notions of “the metaverse” are slowly becoming a reality as products such as Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox bring immersive social experiences to hundreds of millions of people and blur the boundaries between games and social networks. This talk explores the foundational technologies, economies, and freedoms required to build this future medium as a force for good.

Access to Real-Time Live! and most Games programming requires a Select Conference badge or higher. Register for SIGGRAPH 2019, the 46th international conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques: s2019.SIGGRAPH.org/register.

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