In this weeks reading I was very interested in the history of the ACR SIGGRAPH organization because having worked in the medical profession I have seen fliers and invites to their conference but had not appreciated their long history nor the impact this conference has had on the digital world as a whole. After looking into it a bit I was also disappointed to find out that the conference just past and we missed it! The link shows some of the interesting technical papers that would have been presented. Much more information can be found on their website.
You are right about the impact of SIGGRAPH in anything digital at the most sophisticated level. Showing at SIGGRAPH is the equivalent of publishing in a very respected journal, like Science etc. Here is a link to an abbreviated paper from one of the groups featured in the video you posted:
ReplyDeletehttp://algorithmicbotany.org/papers/selforg.sig2009.small.pdf
This will give you a better idea about the state of VR which we can presume will be extinguishable from that other...uh, what is it called...REAL?
I just skimmed over the paper Arturo posted the link to. The paper talked about simulating realistic trees by mimicking the biological way in which trees grow which the researchers hypothesize has to do with "a self-organizing process dominated by the competition of buds and branches for light and space and regulated by internal signaling mechnanisms". The picture of a natural landscape on the front page of their paper looks very real to me.
ReplyDeleteI thought back to Heilig's writing about the cinema of the future and how he envisioned a complete experience of vision, sound, touch, taste, smell. So, if visually, our simulated environments start to look so real, it is not a far step to include the other senses, thus transporting us completely into new realms. Then, what will be real?
However, in creating such environments, I am coming to understand that in order for the participant to feel fully transported, the virtual space must create and experience which very closely aligns to the way in which humans experience thier senses naturally.
I spent some time walking through the UF campus paying attention to how my vision would focus on certain events and colors, and then suddenly, I'd smell flowers, or my attention would be turned to a noise. It all happens so subtly! Researching this, understanding these subtle shifts will be no easy task, but will be key to designing these environments.
I take all of these senses for granted. But, when I zero in on them, I become fascinated by how we experience the world through these subtle shifts that morph from one sense to another and interwine.