Hans Westman

SIGGRAPH Asia

Asia is rising. While Japan has been dominant economically for decades, China and India are growing at a phenomenal rate, and the four Asian tigers, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan are still strongly on the prowl. Asian governments are pumping billions of dollars into digital media technology research and development, and Asian contributions in this field have increased tremendously. SIGGRAPH conference figures show that while the number of papers from Asia has more than doubled in the new millennium, Asian attendance at the conference has fallen by about a third, due partly to cost and visa problems.

Computer graphics: what's it all about?

I‘d like to take the opportunity to thank all the people that have been so generous in allowing their artwork to be used for Computer Graphics issue covers these past few years. The variety of images has truly been enriching, helping us better understand and appreciate the ongoing development of computer graphics. Software and hardware now allow such a high level of refinement to the degree that common expectations have limited what is visually acceptable to a savvy public, due in part to high profile markets such as television, feature film and video games. For a digital artist that works in a competitive industry, the guidelines are clear – or are they? Something Computer Graphics has tried to be consistent in is promoting the innovation lying at the heart of the technology. It is also one of the common denominators shared by the contributors who say “The guidelines are not clear, so let’s take a closer look.” That is where the distinction between artist, scientist, researcher, teacher and student becomes less defined as they all stumble in the same general direction towards discovery. In school we are not only taught to read and write but how those tools are used to contribute to the arts and how they are used for preserving vision, voice and meaning. Computer graphics is just as much about the abstracts of writing code or digital archetypes, as it is about the tangible language of imagery that manifests. Through emerging digital technology, it lends itself well to preserving the artifacts and rituals of world culture and to experiencing them through the creation of virtual worlds and realities. Programs in institutions of higher education can play a big role in preparing new innovators for their roles in computer graphics by providing resources for their “self” discovery and the means to share the learning experience with others. Computer Graphics has presented a few over the years and I sincerely hope there will be many more in the future that are interested in sharing by sending contributions to the issues that will continue through publication on line.

Using an internet based process to assess student art skills

Methods for assessment have become increasingly important in education, especially in regards to complying with accreditation guidelines. The question is, how can this be done effectively at a school whose core curriculum focuses on teaching art? For a department that teaches courses through both campus and online modalities, a web-driven process has become an effective tool, allowing campus and online students to be reviewed side by side by both campus and online faculty alike.

Game technology extends its reach

Expanding on the subject of games, which we have covered in many recent issues, we are continuing the theme with an article on how components of video game technology are being used more widely than just developing product for entertainment.

What you see is what you get: the hidden value of abstractions

While freelancing in Los Angeles after having moved back from Scandinavia, I was contracted to do some artwork for a pilot. Two guys were going to walk on the surface of a crater, obviously shot in a studio against a green screen and then composited against a backdrop. Looking at the plates, you’d be hard pressed to recognize the patterns inspired by abstract impressionist paintings. Flying back from Phoenix last week, I couldn’t help but be fascinated at the cityscape below, which was reminiscent of a computer circuit board. The high desert spread outside from my window seat, shadows revealing an intricate network of what looked like veins underneath the skin of the earth.When we look at things around us, seldom do we reflect on the layers of abstractions beneath the surface, or the relationship of micro and macro in the cosmos. The images chosen for this issue’s covers highlight what we don’t readily see as other than components of the bigger picture. Texture maps for 3D models are by themselves compelling abstract pieces of art, as illustrated by the examples provided with the article submitted by Curtis Beeson, NVIDIA, about Cg (C programming for graphics). Also, let’s not forget the hidden value of abstract thought, the process of concept development and the realization of innovation as is shown by the sketch of the digital easel, which Carl Huhn, Education Management Corporation, has written about in his article. Thank you both for your contributions and your interest in sharing your work with the ACM SIGGRAPH community.

The frustrations and joys of computer graphics

The one place where the minds of science and art can meet is computer graphics. Both have a need to express themselves – seemingly through different means but for a common goal – to figure “it” out. And what is “it”? Therein lies the frustration, because no one really knows. Yet, from the depths of their unknown, they persist in exploring, systematically and intuitively, the imagery of zeros and ones that will explain. The joy is in sharing those findings with others, which is the tradition of the ACM SIGGRAPH conference every year. The images used for the cover of this Computer Graphics issue help illustrate the opposite poles of the spectrum – Associate Professor Bahman Kalantari representing the scientist and Michael Masucci the artist – expressing the frenzy of process while figuring “it” out. There is so much to see when wandering the floors of the conference that it is impossible to take in everything. Hopefully, this taste of visual treats from last year will encourage everyone to again make the rounds this summer to enjoy the festival of computer graphics that annually revitalizes our passion and enthusiasm for the digital technology of picture making.

The exploration and discovery of computer graphics

The images selected for this issue’s cover represent two important aspects contributing to the development of computer graphics; namely exploration and discovery. When one sits in front of a monitor and clicks on the icons that start the programs we use, I am sure that most of us take for granted the ease in which digital applications assist us in getting our job done. In education, we have made it our business to teach students how these software programs work. Most often we presume that everyone knows at least the fundamentals, such as how to use a word processor or how to save and retrieve files. Not so.As an example, there is a population within the core of our animation students that (great surprise!) are very unfamiliar with computers and the logic of how they work.They like to draw and paint.They have since childhood and, obviously, never stopped. Somewhere along the way to growing up, they intuited that work should be play and are now determined to keep it that way. I have to agree. What one chooses to do in life should be fun, even if it has to be productive and a contribution to the greater good of society. However, today computers play a big role in what makes the greater good of society greater and will ultimately be a part of most everyone’s skills. The question is where does the fun factor come in when working with computers, especially when work and productivity are such serious issues? Clearly it would help if introductions to digital technologies were made in a playful environment. If you have ever had the opportunity to attend any of the conferences, chances are you stumbled across the activities at The Guerilla Studio, the digital playpen of SIGGRAPH. I did last summer in San Diego, where I encountered a bunch of people swarming two rooms filled with digital toys that one was actually allowed to touch, even if one didn’t really know what one was doing. Let me tell you first hand – discovering computer graphics while having fun is serious business! Studio Chair Peter Braccio has written a wonderful article about his involvement in leading efforts to ensure The Guerilla Studio remains a SIGGRAPH conference venue. He also shares some of the 2003 experiences he had with the people (image back cover) and companies that contributed their knowledge, time and products to make sure the Studio happened. Mark Thomas is one of those people and is also President of the New Zealand company Right Hemisphere, maker of the Deep Paint software line (image front cover). He is an entrepreneur and explorer in the realms of digital visualization and a visionary in how 3D applications will become as user-friendly and commonplace in daily tasks as today’s word processors. His article is compelling in its description of the computer graphics pipeline and of the 3D software innovations to come. So, if you haven’t already, take some time to explore and discover the joys of computer graphics – and by all means, have fun while you’re doing it!

Playing the game: preparing for a career in computer graphics

As this issue is being put together at the same time the World Series is in full swing, the image provided for the cover by Martin Talbot is fully appropriate in more ways than one. Today’s gaming industry is gigantic, and computer graphics is a huge part if it. Baseball is a game that many of us in America played in our youth, which through the advancement of interactive technologies has also transitioned to a virtual playing field where the colors and bright lights of professional sports venues has crossed over from the experience of outdoor sports arenas to the touching of game play through a controller, a console and a monitor. As consumers, it is easy to get into the game. But for those on the teams creating titles such as Electronic Arts’ MVP Baseball 2005, the game becomes much more competitive and the goal that much harder to attain. Talbot’s article gives an overview of what he has done, both as a student and a professional, before ending up at EA Canada where he currently works as a Technical Art Director. In contrast, there is another kind of game play that is nonetheless compelling as well as rewarding, even if at the outcome there can be no official scoreboard winner. Anna Ursyn’s image pictured on the back cover portrays a young girl posing next to her digital counterpart, role playing her warrior character in a world of make believe. Its simple expression of a common experience and the sense of capturing the satisfaction of playing the game – for the sake of the game – are the elements that attracted me to this image. This is a quality that often becomes hidden under multiple layers when the stakes get higher as we move into adulthood, which is reflected by Ursyn’s other pieces that can be seen in this issue. Ursyn is currently a Professor in the Department of Visual Arts, University of Northern Colorado. I would like to thank Talbot and Ursyn for their contributions, showing examples of how they play the game in their careers in computer graphics.

Computer art comes of age

It is apparent that art created using computers has become more than an expression of technology. Yet there is content that, in some instances, clearly could not be easily produced by any other means than through technology, giving voice to the spontaneous will, no longer limited to the confines of the singular image. Movement defined as animation is often a part of the piece, the electronic performance or personal statement. Computers and software have become a common part of process in art education, bringing artistic concept back into perspective as the contemplative roadmap to cultural development. It is evident that people have common concerns yet may see things differently. By virtue of artistic expression, we see and hear the visual and audio language explaining process and point of view, revealing similar strains of like minds. In preparing for this issue I have had the opportunity to view some of the pieces and commentaries submitted by the artists for this year’s SIGGRAPH gallery show. Computer art has really come into its own, no longer separate from what is culturally correct. This statement is intuitive and subjective – nonetheless, it is clear that the base on which computer art is being built is broadening. I picked the two pieces for the covers of this May issue because I felt they strongly represent the direction in which computer art is taking, not necessarily in as much esthetically speaking but to what depths of expression the artist can go. Lise-Hélène Larin’s Painting by Numbers (see front cover) and Stephen Larson’s Duality (Balance) (see back cover) are very different visually, yet in other ways they are similar, showing community. Both images represent stills from pieces that are (also) animated. Artists have always been in a process, trying to explain the unexplainable, whether the subject matter is universal truth or an attempt to understand personal emotion. We want to learn something new and art is the vehicle. The line that has been drawn between the technology skeptic and the digital believer becomes less and less defined. Soon it will erode altogether, as is well illustrated by Peter Leighton’s One Hand Clapping on this page. I wish I could tell you about all the great art that will be seen at the SIGGRAPH gallery in San Diego this July 27th through the 31st. But I can’t. If I did, I’d be giving it all away. Make the trip this summer and see for yourself. A B O U T T H E C O V E R

Communication and the growth of information

How will we know if we do not take the time to communicate? Our growth in knowledge and our expanse of horizons comes from seeing things...hearing about new things. Signals are sent to the brain, to be caught in a web of collected memories, which we digest; information we use to formulate our impression of the world. We do it on our own, but so does our neighbor unbeknownst to us. I don’t know you and you don’t know me unless our paths cross for some reason. The process expands the world we live in, pushing boundaries outward.The process is without strain one of natural growth keeping us in a state of transformation whether it is recognized or not. Weaving a web of information and expanding its resources, the Internet continues to grow. Most of us browse the World Wide Web at least once a day. We shop. We look up directions to some place we want to go. We take classes on line and search for jobs, somewhere out there in cyberspace.We even look for love. We connect, then we connect and then we reconnect, over and over again. We may pause, but we never stop. Using the Internet has become a common routine. I check my email everyday, as does my wife and my kids, connecting and collecting information from the Internet. Distance is irrelevant. I can talk to anyone anywhere in the world. The only constraint is the time difference. Staring into the abyss of a monitor can turn into an obsession, filling pockets of time that often should be spent rather than stored. What can I find today? Who can I write? Where can I go? I was immediately attracted to the spiral images accompanying the article “Information Visualization with Web3D” by Akira Wakita and Fumio Matsumoto. One image is a diagram of their site’s interface (see front cover); the second a galaxy of images, slowly pulling towards the center of a magnetic black cyber hole (see back cover). At their site (http://alive.wonder-okinawa.jp/), I literally found myself lost in space, randomly clicking on doorways to corridors of information.Whether I could keep track of where I had been or where I was going seemed less important than the exploration of random information floating free in a digital vacuum. There are other architectural exhibits of information Wakita and Matsumoto have experimented with, but it was the spiral galaxy that drew my attention. I want the people in these pictures to speak, the sky to move, like on TV. Then I want to step inside and break down that final difference in time, so I can be there, too, if I choose. I suppose that will be fixed in the upgrade. I wonder if it will happen faster if I tell them...if I let them know what I want...if I communicate...