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  ACM SIGGRAPH (Organization)

  ACM SIGGRAPH is a Special Interest Group of ACM, Association for Computing Machinery: A prominent computer science society based in the United States. That is an international membership non-profit organization made up of thousands of people who share a passion for computer graphics and interactive technology.
  The members come from a wide range of disciplines such as software development, art, visualization, interactive technology, game design, visual effects, computer science, education, graphic design, film and TV production and scientific research.

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  SIGGRAPH (Conference)

  SIGGRAPH is the world's largest computer graphics and interactive technology conference, hosted by ACM SIGGRAPH.
  The conference is held annually in North America and attracts tens of thousands of researchers, creators, students and others from companies and universities. SIGGRAPH is now in its 47th year as one of the world's leading venues for presenting new CG technologies and research.
  SIGGRAPH Asia started in 2008, and next year it will be held in Japan. This year's SIGGRAPH Asia will be held online in December, and they are also exhibiting at DCEXPO 2020 Online. Visit SIGGRAPH Asia 2020 booth.

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  SIGGRAPH and DCEXPO

  In 1996, an agreement of cooperation was signed between ACM SIGGRAPH and NICOGRAPH, the predecessor to the Digital Content Association of Japan (DCAJ). Officially signed as DCAJ in 2001.
  In 2014, SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies and DCEXPO Innovative Technologies entered into an agreement that provides for the exchange of awards for excellence in technology.
  The selected technologies are awarded as the "ACM SIGGRAPH Special Prize" and "DCEXPO Special Prize" respectively and are prioritized for display at the next SIGGRAPH/DCEXPO.
  This year's winning technologies are as follows.

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  Ubimouse - Prevents Virus Infection by Not Touching the Touch Panelmore

  This is AI software that allows you to operate a touch screen or keyboard by simply moving your finger in the air without touching the device, which prevents the spread of contact infection from devices that are touched by an unspecified number of people. There is no need for a new device or additional devices, just install the AI software on your PC or tablet and you can use it right away. It can be operated while wearing gloves, so it can be used in factories and medical institutions.

  «Reason for Award: Dr. Paul H. Dietz, SIGGRAPH 2021 Emerging Technologies Chair»

  

  I am pleased to announce "Ubimouse" as the winner of the SIGGRAPH Special Prize at Digital Content Expo 2020. Touchscreens have been widely adopted in kiosks, automated teller machines, payment systems, etc. While these are simple to use, the global pandemic has made us question the wisdom of interfaces that can so easily spread contagions from one person to another. There is a desperate need to provide public interfaces that are simple to operate, while also being hygienic.
  Ubimouse directly addresses this problem by proposing a simple touchless pointing interface.
  It employs a single camera to track the position of a fingertip to allow navigation of graphical content from a safe distance.
  The theme of SIGGRAPH 2021 Emerging Technologies is "Pandemic-Inspired Innovation", and we feel the Ubimouse is a worthy example to invite for inclusion in our event. It is our sincere hope that this project inspires others to address the challenge of redesigning our world to provide a safer environment will providing easy accessibility to all.

  «Award Speech: Dr. Ryoji Otsu, CEO of Chinougijutsu Co., Ltd.»

  

  I am very pleased to receive this prestigious award. I think our employees and university researchers are equally pleased. Thank you very much.
  Let me tell you what inspired me to develop this technology. Twenty-five years ago in my hometown of Kobe, there was an earthquake. 6,000 are gone. Then I thought of two things.
  One, I would like to create a company to further research the technology I have been researching and promote life-saving research and development. The other is that I want to do research within medical school that will save the lives of patients and lives in society. I've developed robots and AI in my own company to save lives and free people from hard labor. Also, at the university, I'm still using AI and robots to conduct research to save patients' lives.
  One of them is Ubimouse, which was awarded to us this time.
  Touchscreens are a concern for infection because you never know who might touch them. The research suggests that the only way to prevent that is to not touch it.
  Originally, we did not develop this technology for COVID-19, but we thought it would be useful for a wide range of diseases such as influenza, and we are happy that our technology has been used for this year's study, which was unexpectedly useful. We would like to continue to use our AI and robotics technology to help society in the future.

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  Photo-Chromeleon: Re-Programmable Multi-Color Textures Using Photochromic Dyesmore

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Photo-Chromeleon is a technology to create re-programmable multi-color textures that are made from a single material only.

  «Reason for Award: Professor Susumu Tachi, Chair of DCEXPO Special Prize Committee»

  

  The key idea of Photo-Chromeleon is that by mixing cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY) photochromic dyes into a single solution and leveraging the different absorption spectra of each dye, users can control each color channel in the solution separately.
  This invention has great potential to improve product manufacturing efficiency and reduce waste.
  Users can freely change the same product to the design of their choice of color at any time, so they can customize it every day without having to buy it again and again.
  Although there are still some problems to be solved before practical application, we decided to award this prize as it is an extremely promising technology suitable for the times to come, which will seek products that suit each individual without wasting limited resources.

  «Award Speech: Dr. Yuhua Jin, MIT CSAIL»

  

  Thank you very much, Professor Tachi! My name is Yuhua Jin, I’m from the HCI engineering group at MIT. On behalf of our team, I would like to say we are very honored and excited to receive this award.
  First of all, I’d like to thank my adviser, Prof. Stefanie Mueller, who offered me a chance to realize this idea at MIT. Then, I’d like to thank my colleagues, Isabel Qamar and Michael Wessely, who gave me a lot of help during this research. I would like to especially thank Prof. Masahiro Irie who gave me a lot of advice on my research. Also thank the organizer Digital Content Association of Japan, thank you very much, this is really a heavy recognition and a valuable encouragement for us. We really appreciate it!

  As you know, phothchromelon would enable users to change the physical color of object at will. To my mind, it is very clear that this technology has great commercial value and research value. However beyond all of these, I can see such technology has significant value for our human security and environmental sustainability. Please imagine if one day, people won’t abandon things according to their color preference, countless trash will disappear from our world. The meaning behind this invention gives us a very strong willingness to continue it, improve it and promote it to more and more people, until one day it can be realized in our real life.

  At the end, I wish Japan all the best. I hope the pandemic situation will be ended soon and life would get back to normal soon. I hope that all is well with you and those important to you. Thank you! Thank you very much!

In collaboration with SIGGRAPH, the following sessions will be held at DCEXPO 2020 Online.
We invite you to register and watch it!

• A Better Future Created by Interaction
  - Award Ceremony of ACM SIGGRAPH Special Prize and DCEXPO Special Prize -more

  4:30pm-6:00pm, Thu., November 19
  Paul H. Dietz, Technical Fellow at Tactual Labs Co./SIGGRAPH 2021 Emerging Technologies Chair／Susumu Tachi, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus of The University of Tokyo

  Talk session with Dr. Paul H. Dietz, SIGGRAPH 2021 Emerging Technologies Chair and Professor Susumu Tachi, Professor Emeritus of The University of Tokyo. [Simultaneous translation is provided.]
  We will introduce their latest research and discuss how our future will evolve as a result of technological advances in interaction.
  Award ceremonies for the SIGGRAPH and DCEXPO prizes will also be held.

• SIGGRAPH2020 Computer Animation Festival Traveling Show in DCEXPO 2020 ONLINEmore

  3:00pm-3:10pm, Fri., November 20, Introduction

  The best CG animations screened at SIGGRAPH2020 Computer Animation Festival Electronic Theater will also be shown at DCEXPO 2020 ONLINE!
  This event is limited to 80 people.
  Please click the button to register!