Showcase for digital entertainment

By Jonathan Fildes
News.bbc.co.uk
Saturday, 20 July, 2002, 08:43 GMT 09:43 UK

Want to know how the characters in Star Wars Episode II were created, find out how computer games will change the way we use computers?

Or how a robot called Lewis could be your wedding photographer? Well, then Siggraph 2002 could be for you.

At one of the world's largest multimedia conferences in the world, held this year in San Antonio, Texas, US, more than 6,500 international experts will reveal the digital future of the entertainment industry.

Siggraph - Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques - is now in its 29th year.

The annual six-day conference attracts experts in animation, computer graphics, robotics and digital art. It is a meeting of the people who create what we watch on the big screen to the computer screen and how we watch it.
[...]

Digital voyages

Highlights this year include a keynote address from Esther Dyson, often described as the most influential woman in cyberspace, who will explore issues of control and identity on the internet.

Talks and demonstrations promise enlightening voyages into the creation of Middle Earth for the film Lord of the Rings, and the Star Wars universe.

Across the hall, Lewis the robotic photographer will try to snap your photograph, while Public Anemone, an organic, sea anemone-like "robot creature" will emotively respond as you tap on its tank.
[...]

(Siggraph facts:
29th conference
20,000 anticipated visitors
6,000 international visitors
300 exhibitors)