- At SIGGRAPH '98 my
favorite paper was "Subdivision Surfaces in Character Animation"
in which Pixar explained how they created the title character in
"Geri's game". The technical sketches I found most intriguing were
"Artificial Evolution of Implicit Surfaces" which used a genetic
algorithm to evolve gnarly shapes and "Modeling Fiber Stream of
Internal Wood" which described a technique for modeling the sheen
that some wood surfaces have. In the interactive art installations
I liked "PingPongPlus" which was a ping pong table fitted with
contact microphones that allow it to detect where the ball has
struck and respond by projecting fanciful patterns on the surface
(like ripples of water), and "The Bush Soul" which presents a
wonderfully abstract world for you to explore in panoramic 3-D
video and stereo sound.
- At SIGGRAPH '97 in Los Angeles highlights were the paper in
the "Artificial Life" course on using Genetic Algorithms to evolve
artificial life forms, the "Frontiers in Modeling & Rendering"
segment on simulating flexing muscles, and the paper on "Modeling
the Motion of a Hot, Turbulent Gas".
Copyright © 1999 William A Ackel, All rights reserved.