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SIGGRAPH 2024 continues in Denver, Colorado, Highlights of the day included an event organized by Pixar.
Laval Virtual at SIGGRAPH!
Laval Virtual in the USA? Yes! The team from Europe’s biggest XRevent presented the Laval Virtual Award to the Keio University team associated with Spline Design Hub Corp and NTT- Docomo. They will be invited to the next edition of Laval Virtual from April 9 to 11, 2025.
Their project, Feeltech Wear: Enhancing Mixed Reality Experience With Wrist to Finger Haptic Attribution, was featured in the Emerging Technologies section of SIGGRAPH. It presents a system designed to facilitate haptic interactions in mixed reality while still allowing the person wearing it to use their hands. In other words, this system does not obstruct interaction with real objects and does not interfere with hand tracking by the headset. Unlike a regular VR controller with haptic feedback, which can make it impossible to hold the controller while manipulating objects. This system is divided into two parts: one part for each hand wrist, and a control unit placed behind the head.
The award was presented by Laval Virtual vice-president Guy Le Bras.
Shapelab now Free for Education!
Another announcement today: Shapelab, a 3D modeling/sculpting solution in virtual reality, is now free for all middle and higher education institutions wordwide.
The 2024 version of the software, recently launched, is typically priced around $70 (and is available on Steam). Educators and students can now use the tool for free by signing up on the official website. Note that the publisher provides tutorials to help users get started effectively.
HP Z Captis: A New Material Capture Solution
We were impressed by HP Z Captis, a system that allows you to capture materials in up to 8K resolution, thanks to advanced computer vision. An interesting feature is the Substance 3 Sampler integration, which means this product will be easy to fit in an existing workflow. HP emphasizes the product’s dual use, both in the studio and on-site, with a capture area of up to 30cmx30cm.
Exhibition Floor
We saw new booths today…
Including Pixar’s, which featured their famous teapots, created by Dylan Sisson. They have become a staple of SIGGRAPH.
As always, people got in line to get one!
RenderMan Art Science Fair
Pixar ended the day on a high note with the eagerly awaited RenderMan Art Science Fair: a showcase of the RenderMan rendering engine, and the introduction of the new teapot. Or rather, the two new teapots!
The crowd gathered to hear Dylan Sisson, Marketing Manager at Pixar.
Dylan Sisson shared that this year’s inspiration came from the conference’s location: Denver, Colorado.
Researching the state’s fauna led to a revelation: Colorado is known for Bigfoot! So, he chose this mythical creature and its cousin, the Yeti.
Notably, these teapots are the first to have… feet!
We will continue our coverage of the event in future articles.
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