A growing table of some of the illustrious keynotes from VSMM Conferences over the years:
| Year | Photo | Speaker Title Organization | Keynote | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 |  | Bandarin, Francesco Assistant Director-General for Culture UNESCO Paris, FRANCE | Opening Ceremony | Francesco Bandarin, architect and planner, served as Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre from September 2000 to March 2011. He was appointed UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture in May 2010. He trained as an architect (Venice, 1975) and as an urban planner (UC Berkeley, 1977) and has pursued an academic career as Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Venice (IUAV) and a professional career as a consultant for international organizations in the field of urban conservation and development. He was Director of the Italian Special Projects Office for the Safeguarding of Venice and its Lagoon, and Director of Special Programmes for the 2000 Jubilee Preparations in Rome. He has written numerous specialized publications and articles, and co-authored “The Historic Urban Landscape: Managing in an Urban Century”, published in 2012. |
| 2016 |  | Billinghurst, Mark Professor, Human Computer Interaction University of South Australia Adelaide, AUSTRALIA | Using AR and VR to Create Empathic Experiences Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technologies can be used to create experiences that either enhance the user's real space to transport the user to an immersive computer generated space. In both cases the technology can be used to create empathic experiences, which allow a user to better understand the experience of someone else. This presentation provides an overview of Empathic Computing and then shows how AR, VR and Affective Computing technology can be combined together to create powerful empathic experiences. Examples will be drawn from research conducted at the University of South Australia and other leading groups worldwide, and directions for future research will be presented. | Mark Billinghurst is Professor of Human Computer Interaction at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, Australia. He earned a PhD in 2002 from the University of Washington and researches innovative computer interfaces that explore how virtual and real worlds can be merged, publishing over 300 papers in topics such as wearable computing, Augmented Reality and mobile interfaces. Prior to joining the University of South Australia he was Director of the HIT Lab NZ at the University of Canterbury and he has previously worked at British Telecom, Nokia, Google and the MIT Media Laboratory. His MagicBook project, was winner of the 2001 Discover award for best entertainment application, and he received the 2013 IEEE VR Technical Achievement Award for contributions to research and commercialization in Augmented Reality. In 2013 he was selected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. |
| 2013 |  | Bourdelais, Patrice Head of the Division for Social Sciences & Humanities CNRS Paris, FRANCE | Opening Ceremony | Patrice Bourdelais is currently the head of the Division for Social sciences and Humanities at the CNRS (since 2010). Historian and demographer, Full Professor at the EHESS (Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales), he had also be trained in epidemiology and bacteriology at the Pasteur Institute. He has worked on the population history, the urban population of industry and the urban mortality penalty, the population aging, the epidemics and Public Health issues mainly during the 19th and 20th centuries. He has been the Editor of the Annales de démographie historique (1996-208) and the Director of the Centre de recherches historiques (UMR EHESS-CNRS). He has been active in the European scientific networks, and coordinated a European master funded by the European Commission (Dynamics of Health and Welfare 2005-2010)) and a European doctorate (Dynamics of Health and Welfare) since 2010. |
| 2013 |  | Der Manuelian, Peter Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology - Director, Semitic Museum Harvard University Cambridge, USA | Giza 3D: Digital Archaeology and Scholarly Access to the Giza Pyramids Based on more than a decade’s work, the Giza Project at Harvard is blending older traditional archives (excavation photos, archaeological drawings, object metadata) with extremely realistic 3D visualization of the famous Pyramids, Sphinx, and surrounding tombs and temples just west of modern Cairo (3rd millennium BC). This seamless marriage of old and new provides revolutionary access to Giza, its statues, hieroglyphic inscriptions, architecture, and wall decoration. These are the primary sources for all aspects of ancient Egyptian civilization, cross-referenced and accessible, for scholars, teachers, students, and the world community. Real-time immersive models allow us to pose new research questions, provide revolutionary and interactive classroom instruction, and investigate diachronic approaches to Giza’s evolution over several millennia. The computer models provide unique perspectives that no archaeologist has previously enjoyed, such as from below ground, or soaring high above the Pyramids of the pharaohs. Finds are returned to their findspots virtually from collections the world over, for we can now restore their archaeological context. And simulations, from the sun’s interaction with the ancient monuments, to the scale of royal statuary adorning the temples, help us to understand the choices the Egyptians made in constructing this vast archaeological site. Whether over the web, or on large screens in university visualization centers, Giza 3D can resolve archaeological problems that were previously unsolvable even out at the site itself. This online digital “publication” serves as a heritage management resource, a unique teaching tool, and an archaeological repository. The Giza models and website illustrate the best practices for the recreation and exploration of ancient Egyptian culture during one of its most critical periods. | Peter Der Manuelian received his Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago in 1990. In 2009, he was appointed the “Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology” at Harvard University. This is the first senior, tenured Egyptology chair at Harvard since the time of in 70 years. He joined the curatorial staff at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1987, and he was Giza Archives Project Director there from 2000–2011. In addition to his teaching duties, he is director of the Harvard Semitic Museum, director of the Giza Project at Harvard, and director of the Masters Program in Museum Studies at the Harvard Extension School. Among his scholarly publications are Mastabas of Nucleus Cemetery G 2100; Slab Stelae of the Giza Necropolis; Living in the Past: Studies in Archaism of the Egyptian Twenty-sixth Dynasty; and Studies in the Reign of Amenophis II. He has also written a number of childrens’ books. |
| 2017 |  | Diamond, Sara President, OCAD University, CANADA | Dr. Sara Diamond is the President of OCAD University, Canada’s “university of the imagination”. She holds a PhD in Computing, Information Technology and Engineering from SMARTlab London, a Masters in Digital Media and Honours Bachelors of Arts in History and Communications. Diamond is an internationally celebrated data visualization, wearable technology, mobile media researcher, media artist, designer and historian. She is an appointee of the Order of Ontario and the Royal Canadian Academy of Artists and a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for service to Canada. She is the winner of the 2013 GRAND NCE Digital Media Pioneer Award. Diamond served on the 2011-2012 Council of the Canadian Academies’ expert panel on the State of Science & Technology in Canada. She founded the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre; was co-principal investigator of the Centre for Information Visualization/Data Driven Design; theme leader for Data Visualization for iCity which focused on Big Data and transportation, is a member of the BRAIN Alliance, in visual analytics. She has held funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, Canada Foundation for Innovation, MITACS, the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Ontario Centres for Excellence and the Canada Council for the Arts. Since her appointment in 2005 she has led OCAD University’s evolution to a full university, helping to build its transdisciplinary and research-creation research capacity and infrastructure, integrate STEM subjects, create its Digital Futures Initiative, launch the Indigenous Visual Culture Program, strengthen its approach to inclusion, and grow its undergraduate and graduate programs. Before her tenure at OCAD University she was Artistic Director and Executive Producer of Media and Visual Art, Executive Director of Research at The Banff Centre (1992 – 2005), founder of the Banff International Curatorial Institute and founded and led the Banff New Media Institute, a digital media research centre, incubator and think tank. |
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| 2017 |  | Dorosh, Daria Artist, USA | Take Back Your Body This paper considers the status of the body as we journey deeper into technological territory. The body is at the center of a multiplex system of intersecting realities. Our physiology, memory, imagination, dream space, and subconscious is informed by our sense of touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound. Our mental, psychical, and physical abilities imply that each of us presides over a powerful intelligence that is vested in the body. What do we actually know about our own body? How is digital technology shifting the value of the body? Has the body been monetized, and if so, what options do we have to take back our body? Why does it matter now? Keywords—body, subconscious, reality, ethics, ecology, Tshirt, fashion, technology, health, economics. | Daria Dorosh, is a co-founding member of A.I.R. Gallery, integrates traditional art with new media, fashion, and technology. Her exhibitions, Plays Well with Others (2004) and The Changing Room (2007) were collaborative multimedia installations with guest participants from diverse fields. After 36-years as a fashion design professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, NY, she became a researcher with SMARTlab, UK, and completed her PhD thesis, Patterning: the Informatics of Art and Fashion in 2007. Fashion is a rich repository of social, historic, and personal information, which she integrates into her art practice and explores through her company, Fashion Lab in Process. In 2011 she received ArtTable’s 30th Anniversary Artist Honors Award for work that goes beyond studio practice, and her 2011 interview by Paddy Johnson, Concerns from The Second Economy: Daria Dorosh on the Baby Boomer’s Relationship to Technology and Art, is posted on the Art Fag City blog. She is active in the arts and in environmental groups in the Upper Delaware River Valley, NY, where she has her studio. Her 20th one-person exhibition, DEEP Play: imaginary realms and comfort objects for grown-ups, (October 2012) showed digital prints and portable textile sculpture for grown ups. |
| 2014 |  Photo Credit: Joe Burull | Dzambazova, Tatjana Technology Whisperer and Product Manager, Reality Capture and Digital Fabrication Autodesk San Francisco, USA | RIP FIX BURN / RIP MIX LEARN Tatjana will share pioneering work and developments at the convergence of digital 3D capture and 3D creation. Introducing the concepts of RIP FIX BURN and RIP MIX LEARN, she will present Project Memento, ReCap, and efforts spanning art, culture, and the natural sciences to archive, monitor, protect and preserve our heritage. | An experienced architect and passionate technology leader, Tatjana is Autodesk Inc.'s Technology Whisperer and Product Manager for Reality Capture and Digital Fabrication. |
| 2013 |  | Fellner, Dieter W. Director Fraunhofer Inst. for Computer Graphics Research - IGD Darmstadt, GERMANY | ON THE VERGE OF 3D MASS DIGITIZATION IN THE CULTURAL HERITAGE DOMAIN In 2003 an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 destroyed the historic city of Bam in Iran, well-known for its numerous adobe buildings dating back to the Safavids in the 16th - 18th century. In 2004, about 50,000 books of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Germany, were destroyed when the roof of the main building caught fire. In 2009, the Historical Archive of Cologne. Germany, collapses and buries 90% of its documents – causing restoration efforts to take up to 30 years. In 2012, insurgents destroy the Mausoleum Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar and various tombs in Timbuktu, Mali, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Only when such disasters strike, does the plea for digitization of cultural heritage artifacts audibly increase. Yet, cultural institutions are finding it more and more difficult to cope with the sheer size of their ever-growing collections and seek ways to simplify and automate classification and archival storage. Ten years ago initiatives to mass digitize 2D documents such as books, photos, paintings and other works of art laid the foundation for a worldwide market worth hundred Millions of Euro for service providers and hardware manufacturers. Now, the time has come to expand those services into the third dimension. Along with this expansion further challenges arise, such as long-term data storage of millions of virtual 3D models, appropriate 3D formats, a general and legally binding definition of digital rights on 3D reconstructed content and strategies to certify a virtual artifact’s provenance. To face the increasing demand for 3D mass digitization in the cultural heritage domain, we need technologies focusing on industrialization and automation of the whole 3D digitization process. We need approaches that embed the latest generation of sea, land or airborne, autonomous robots to serve as mobile platforms for digital scanning and reconstruction technologies in their processing pipelines. We need conveyor-belt solutions for small and medium size artifacts. We need full control of environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and lighting to ensure comparable results. Furthermore, it is essential to provide fully automated end-to-end solutions which can connect to automated vaults or high-rack warehouses of all sorts. In conclusion, we need to develop comprehensive, simple-to-use, fast and economic approaches to mass 3D digitization, classification, annotation and archival storage at best possible quality. | Dieter Fellner is a professor of computer science at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, and the Director of the Fraunhofer Institute of Computer Graphics (IGD) at the same location. Previously he has held academic positions at the Graz University of Technology, Austria, the University of Technology in Braunschweig, Germany, the University of Bonn, Germany, the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, and the University of Denver, Colorado. He is still affiliated with the Graz University of Technology where he chairs the Institute of Computer Graphics and Knowledge Visualization he founded in 2005. Dieter Fellner's research activities over the last years covered algorithms and software architectures to integrate modeling and rendering, efficient rendering and visualization algorithms, generative and reconstructive modeling, virtual and augmented reality, graphical aspects of internet-based multimedia information systems and digital libraries. In the latter field he has initiated/coordinated the first strategic initiative on 'General Documents' (funded by the German Research Foundation DFG, 1997-2005) followed by a DFG-Research Center on 'Non-Textual Documents' (2006-2011). In 2006 he initiated a new funding initiative on 'Visual Computing' funded by the Austrian Ministry BMVIT. In the areas of computer graphics and digital libraries Dieter Fellner is a member of the editorial boards of leading journals in the respective fields and a member of the program committees of many international conferences and workshops. He is a member of the EUROGRAPHICS Association where he serves in the Executive Committee and as Chairman of the Publications Board, ACM, IEEE Computer Society, and the Gesellschaft für Informatik (GI) where he serves as a member of the extended Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Graphics Chapter (Fachbereich Graphische Datenverarbeitung). In 2009 he became a member of the Academia Europaea. Furthermore, Dieter Fellner is an advisor for the German Scientific Council, the German Research Foundation. |
| 2016 |  | Gaffney, Vincent Anniversary Chair in Landscape Archaeology, School of Archaeological Sciences University of Bradford United Kingdom | From BradPhys to BradViz: the move from archaeological to heritage sciences Archaeology is a broad church and its role as a “two culture” discipline is frequently cited. This position at theinterface of the arts and sciences remains central to archaeological activity but there have been significant changes in the structure of archaeology and its relationship to society overall. The growth of heritage science, in particular, is increasingly driving change and development within archaeology at a national and international level. This keynote discusses these developments in relation to the author’s own research trajectory and reveals the significance of such change. | Professor Vincent Gaffney is Anniversary Chair in Landscape Archaeology at the Department of Archaeological Sciences at the University of Bradford. Current and previous research projects include the analysis of the Mesolithic pit alignment at warren Field Crathes, mapping the inundated landscapes of the Southern North Sea, agent-based model of the battle of Manzikert (1071) in Anatolia and the “Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes” Project where he leads the UK team creating 3D and virtual imaging of the landscape from an extensive programme of geophysical survey of the largely unmapped landscape. |
| 2016 |  | Goodman, Lizbeth Professor & Chair of Creative Technology Innovation; Founder/Director SMARTlab; Founder/Director the Inclusive Design Research Centre of Ireland University College Dublin IRELAND | PANEL: Visualisation Meets Assistive Tech: VR, AR, drones, and their potential for human communication This Panel Keynote presentation will give an overview of recent work in the areas of Augmented Cognition, Inclusive Design and Creative Technology Innovation conducted by SMARTlab and the Inclusive Design Research Centres of Ireland and Canada. Projects underway, including several Marie Curie Post-Doctoral projects in the area of Assistive Tech for People with Intellectual Disabilities-Autism, have applied novel uses of Virtual Worlds, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Future Forsighting Models and tools, and Drones in interdisciplinary research to enhance and extend the human potential of ALL people, regardless of intellectual, cognitive, physical or other abilities (and super-powers). | |
| 2014 |  | Grau, Oliver Chair Professor for Image Science Dean, Department of Image Science, Danube University, Krems, AUSTRIA | "OUR DIGITAL CULTURE THREATENED BY LOSS: The Complex Expression of Digital Art and its Impact on Archives and Image Science/Digital Humanities" | Oliver Grau was appointed first Chair Professor for Image Science in the German speaking countries at the Department for Image Science at DanubeU in 2005. He has received several awards and his publications are translated in 13 languages. His main research is in the history of media art, immersive images, emotion and immersion, the history of telepresence and artificial life and digital humanities. Grau's book “Virtual Art”, 2003 is internationally the most quoted art history monography of the last decade (H-Index). Other publications: Mediale Emotionen (2005), MediaArtHistories (2007), Imagery in the 21st Century, (2011). |
| 2013 |  | Hernàndez-Ros, Javier Head, Creativity Unit, Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology’ (DG CONNECT) EU Commission LUXEMBOURG | Opening Ceremony | Joined the European Commission in 1986 and was involved in technology transfer and innovation policies. From June 2002 to December 2010 he was Head of the « Access to Information » unit, promoting legal initiatives to support the development of the digital content industry, notably the « directive for re-use of public sector information ». He was responsible for the e-Content and the Safer Internet programmes for the period 2002-2005. In January 2011, he took over as Head of « Cultural Heritage and Technology Enhanced Learning » unit, responsible for research and innovation actions in the domains of Technology Enhanced learning, Digital Preservation and ICT for Access to Cultural Resources. In July 2012 the Directorate General underwent a reorganisation and he now heads the « Creativity » unit within the DG for Communications Networks, Content and Technology. It provides research and innovation funding for the creative and cultural industries and promotes policies for the digitisation and on-line accessibility of Europe’s cultural heritage |
| 2014 |  | Holzbach, Mark Co-Founder Zebra Imaging USA | “A GLASS BEAD GAME: A Talk about Holography and Culture" The world is witnessing an explosion of 3D digital content. This talk provides an overview of the deep history, motivations, and fundamentals of different 3D display approaches that have been explored, with an emphasis on recent technologies, products, successful applications, and future possibilities. | Mark Holzbach is a Graduate of the MIT Media Lab's Spatial Imaging Group under the direction of holography pioneer, the late Dr. Stephen Benton. In 1996, he co-founded Zebra Imaging, in Austin, TX, and currently is Technology Development Manager, Office of the CTO, and chairman of the Zebra IP committee. |
| 2017 |  | Jemison, Mae Astronaut, Doctor, Innovator | The youngest of 3 children, Dr. Mae Jamison was born in Decatur, Alabama on October 17, 1956. Her family moved to Chicago when Mae was only three, and it was there that an uncle introduced her to the world of science. At a very early age, Mae developed interests in anthropology, archaeology, and astronomy that she pursued throughout her childhood. Mae Jemison enrolled at Stanford University at the age of 16 and in 1977 graduated with degrees in both chemical engineering and Afro-American studies. She received a Doctor of Medicine degree from Cornell University in 1981. Dr. Jemison has practiced medicine as a volunteer in a Cambodian refugee camp and as a medical officer with the Peace Corps in West Africa. She was working as a general practitioner in Los Angeles, California when NASA selected her and 14 others for astronaut training. Dr. Jemison completed her training as a mission specialist with NASA in 1988. In September of 1992, as a mission specialist aboard the Shuttle Endeavour, Mae Jemison became the first African-American woman to enter space. In 1993, Dr. Jemison resigned from NASA and founded the Jemison Group, Inc. Among her current projects are several that focus on improving healthcare in Africa and advancing technology in developing countries. |
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| 2013 |  | Kārkliņš, Jānis Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information UNESCO Paris, FRANCE | Opening Ceremony | Before assuming duties of the Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information of UNESCO in July 2010, Mr Jānis Kārkliņš served as Latvian Ambassador to France, Andorra, Monaco and UNESCO, as well as the Permanent Representative of Latvia to the United Nations in Geneva.Prior to the post in Geneva, he served as the Undersecretary of State in Latvia. Previously, he served as Counselor in the Latvian Embassies in both France and Finland. He has an Engineering degree from the Riga Technical University in Latvia and attended an executive education programme for Eastern European diplomats at Hoover Institute at Stanford University, USA.He has also served as Chairman of the Governmental Advisory Committee of ICANN, Former President of the Preparatory Committee of the Tunis Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society. |
| 2016 |  | Kenderdine, Sarah Professor, Art & Design University of New South Wales Sydney, AUSTRALIA | Data Sculpting & Deep Mapping: New Paradigms in Omnidirectional VR The CEO of Intel Brian Kraznich said in 2014 “We are in the midst of a transformation, from a world of screens and devices to a world of immersive experiences.” This presentation will examine new paradigms for transforming digital archives into a series of omnispatial, omnidirectional and hemispheric immersive experiences. The research integrates groundbreaking work in data creation, virtual environment design, interactivity, and information visualization-transforming engagement with intangible and tangible heritage. These frameworks of engagement lay a foundation for novel approaches to transforming data visualization not only in the humanities but also for teaching and learning and the sciences more generally. This discussion includes latest developments in transdisciplinary research and development in this area including the UNSW’s Expanded Perception and Interaction Centre (EPIC) focused on visualization in medical and mental health. | Professor Sarah Kenderdine researches at the forefront of interactive and immersive experiences for museums and galleries. In widely exhibited installation works, she has amalgamated cultural heritage with new media art practice in the realms of interactive cinema, augmented reality and embodied narrative. She is Professor at UNSW Art & Design and Director of UNSW’s the newly created transdisciplinary Expanded Perception and Interaction Centre (EPIC) and she is Director of the laboratory for Innovation in Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (iGLAM). She continues to work for Museum Victoria on Special Projects. |
| 2013 |  | Lievaux, Pascal Head, Department of Research and Science Policy, French Ministry of Culture & Communications Paris, FRANCE | Opening Ceremony | Pascal Liévaux is chief curator of the heritage. PhD in art history, specializing in modern architecture, he taught at the University of Tours. He had numerous articles and books on architecture and urban planning from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century published. Since 2010 he’s the Head of the Department of research and science policy of the Directorate General for Heritage. As such, he is specifically monitoring the researches which open up new perspectives for the application of digital technologies in favor of the knowledge and heritage conservation (archival, archaeological, museographical or architectural). He’s chief editor of the online magazine In Situ (http://insitu.revues.org/ ) and teaches at the Ecole de Chaillot which trains specialized architects in the restoration of old buildings |
| 2017 |  | Morie, Jacquelyn Ford Virtual Environment Pioneer, USA | A History of Virtual Reality This talk introduces the basics of early VR history, including the people and inventions that enabled it. I define what fully immersive VR means and look at the factors that support full immersion. I also feature a deep dive into the most creative projects from 1985-2007 and explore the role women played in creating the majority of them. The talk also touches on why VR did not reach more commercial success in the first wave of its use. I explore today’s resurgence of VR technology made possible by sophisticated desktop graphic computers and lower cost gear, and outline new techniques and concepts that may help VR be more successful this time around. Topic(s): Computer Graphics, Visualization and Interactive Techniques,Computers and Society,Emerging Technologies,Human Computer Interaction | Jacki has been at the forefront of immersive-world technology since 1990, focusing her early research on affective and meaningful implementations of virtual environments. She received her PhD on this topic from SMARTLab (UEL) in 2008. She was also an early adopter of the online 3D world Second Life, and as a resident of that virtual world has been an innovative creator of content and functionality. Jacki produced one of Second Life’s first international art showcases, ‘The New West’, in 2006. She next created the artwork ‘Remembrance and Remains in Second Life’, which features a small Iraqi village, populated by autonomous villagers, to show the more human face of that war-torn country. She is developing and adapting health applications within virtual worlds to assist with stress alleviation/innoculation. Working with experts in Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction, she has adapted this proven technique for Second Life and is now holding classes ‘in-world’. She has also pioneered other techniques, such as deep breathing to control avatar jogging, and using narrative psychology to help victims of trauma ‘rewrite’ their life stories in a positive light. Jacki also works with AI experts to involve intelligent agents (as avatars) for many helpful purposes in the virtual world. This work can be seen at www.cominghomecenter.org. |
| 2017 |  | Nalls, Gayil Olfactory Experience Designer, USA | Thursday, November 2 • 14:00 - 14:30 Representations of the World’s Sensorium in the Olfactory Brain The sense of smell and naturally occurring odors in the environment are part of a chemical framework that encompasses the natural world and plays a role in every facet of human life. The chemically mediated senses of smell and taste allow us to obtain meaningful and objective information about the world. These chemical interactions play a primary role in structuring our thoughts, memories, and broader consciousness. We sense the external world through internal neuronal representations in the brain. Because of olfaction’s unique attributes, many commercial entities are now attempting to integrate odor cues into artificial communication and entertainment environments such as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (VR/AR). The addition of scent is having a substantial impact on the magnitude of immersion that is experienced in AR/VR; however, little is known about the collective emotional and psychological impact of odor stimuli as more and more people come in contact with virtual systems, nor has the safe, ethical, and sustainable use of these aromatic compounds been established. The aim of this paper is to suggest a strategy for identifying the most promising and safe raw materials to integrate olfactory information into AR/VR and other technology and communication systems. To address this, I draw on my ethnographic research to create and scientifically contextualize a chemical art object, World Sensorium, consisting of a world scent composed of culturally associative aromatic compounds derived from select plant species from around the world, to provide insight into how the evolution and qualitative character of the human olfactory experience that has shaped the global cultural sensorium. Through World Sensorium, olfaction is explored as a medium of memory, communication, and emotion, to create an artwork that has positive meaning for a vast number of people across the globe. Each chemical constituent in this world scent is associated with unique neural imprints that are central to the transmission of cultural and aesthetic values. Furthermore, and of critical significance, the paper suggests that aromatic chemicals introduced into VR/AR scent environments ought to be cautiously evaluated for their impact on their users as well as on broader human health and the environment. Keywords— World Sensorium, world scent, olfaction, smell, aroma, odor, essential oils, culture, aromatic chemicals, chemical composition, fragrance chemicals, virtual reality, augmented reality, virtual systems, consciousness, immersive environments | Gayil Nalls is an American interdisciplinary artist and theorist, based in New York. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of East London. She has held various research affiliations with SMARTlab and is currently an associate adjunct professor at University College of Dublin. Nalls has a special interest in the biological, psychological and cultural experiences of olfaction and is best known for her world olfactory sculpture, World Sensorium. Nalls’ artwork is represented in major museum collections and is exhibited internationally. Her investigations unite various fields and disciplines in pursuit of forming new methods of understanding, both intellectual and emotional. Nalls writes regularly for Nautilus Magazine and Psychology Today. Recent book publications include her essays in “The Politics of Perfumed Objects” in “For the deeper meaning: Fragrance as medium in art, design and communication” (Germany, Spielbein Publishers), 2016 and “TOXIC: Coming to Our Senses” in “Paradise Paradoxe” (Zurich, Edition Patrick Frey, 2016). |
| 2013 |  | Pouliquen, Dominique Marketing Director Reality Solutions Group Autodesk | The Old Leading the New – Driving Technology through Digital Heritage Reality capture technologies are now reaching a level of maturity that allows digitizing any object, building or site to the finest possible level of detail and texture quality. Digital heritage is benefiting from all these new technologies, mostly driven from laser scanning and photogrammetry requirements of the industrial, consumer goods or entertainment industries. But what if Digital Heritage could not only be a follower but a real driver for these new developments? Preservation of our cultural heritage brings challenges that are similar to the ones found in many other industries as well, such as architecture, construction, civil engineering, manufacturing, video games, film production or multimedia: - Scalability: high volume of objects must be digitized, which requires cheaper and simpler devices for crowd scanning; - Dissemination and storytelling: the digitized data must be available through attractive stories to engage with the masses; - Sustainability: digitized content must not only be used to preserve and document, but also to maintain and improve. The Digital Heritage community has the know-how and expertise to make all this happen. By connecting more to the needs of those business-driven industries, the Digital Heritage community will contribute to a much wider ecosystem, driving more resources and opportunities to expand. Are you willing to lead? | Dominique Pouliquen is the Director of Market Development for the Reality Capture Group at Autodesk and is based at its global headquarters in San Francisco, California. Recognized as the worldwide leader in 2D and 3D CAD software, including well-known brands such as AutoCAD®, Revit®, 3ds Max® and Maya®, Autodesk acquired REALVIZ, a software company co-founded by M. Pouliquen and M. Luc Robert, in May 2008. REALVIZ computer vision technologies were then successfully integrated into several Autodesk products, including 123D Catch® and Autodesk ReCap®. REALVIZ was created in 1998, and was based on technology from the National Research Institute for Computer Sciences and Automatics (INRIA). As its CEO, M. Pouliquen developed its image-based content creation business in the special effects and digital imaging markets throughout the world. Prior to REALVIZ, M. Pouliquen worked in the computer graphics industry and graduated with a Masters in Engineering in 1986 from Ecole Superieure d'Electronique de l'Ouest in Angers, France. |
| 2016 |  | Smith, Michael A. Visual Computing Architect and Director, U.S. Higher Education Programs Intel Corporation USA | Sensors everywhere, the Internet of Things in New Media The Internet of Things (IoT) is fueling innovation in many areas of our lives. To realize the vision of a truly connected world, we must consider the expansion of sensors and microcomputers in ways that lead to new insights in visual media. These systems must transform complex data into meaningful visual representations for both consumer and industrial applications. This keynote addresses the pervasive expansion of computing in IoT and its impact on new forms of visual media. | Dr. Michael A. Smith is a specialist in image and video analytics with a focus on automated media understanding and deep learning in video search. He leads Intel’s university engagement and scale strategies in the Internet of Things (IoT), visual computing and data visualization. Before joining Intel, he was the Senior Director of Research at France Telecom R&D, where he also served as a researcher and lecturer at several universities, including, UC Berkeley, the University of Texas, the University of Cape Town and the University of Campinas, Brazil. He recently served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist for IoT research in India and Colombia, and he was appointed an Invention Ambassador by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Smith graduated with his BSEE from North Carolina A&T State University, his MSEE from Stanford and a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. |
| 2013 |  | Suzzarelli, Bruno President MuCEM Marseille, FRANCE | Opening Ceremony | By decree by the President of the Republic dated 16 April 2013, Bruno Suzzarelli was appointed President of the public institution of the Museum of Civilisations From Europe and the Mediterranean. A graduate of IEP Paris holding a DESS in public law, former student of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration, Bruno Suzzarelli has been the Deputy Director of the Musées de France (1984-1988) and delegate adjoint of Arts Plastiques (1988-1992). In 1992 he was named director of the administration and external services of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, then in 1995 Chief of the Commission for State Reform. In 1998, he became general director of the Union des Arts Décoratifs, in Paris (association including the musée des Arts décoratifs, the musée de la Mode, the musée de la Publicité, the musée Nissim de Camondo, The école Camondo, and the ateliers du Carrousel). He was then director of general administration at the Ministry of Culture and Communication, then Inspector General of Cultural Affairs until his nomination in 2009 as director of the MuCEM (project of transferring the existing museum in Paris, and prefiguration of the future institution in Marseille). |
| 2004 |  | Thalmann, Nadia Professor, Univ. of Geneva | From Roman Garments to Haute Couture Collection with the Fashionizer Platform | |
| 2013 |  | Verwayen, Harry Deputy Director, Europeana | Alez Culture! Past, present and Future of Europeana For the past 5 years Europeana has developed from a political aspiration to unite Europe in diversity, to a full- blown operation, servicing a network of thousands of institutions accross Europe. The most tangible expression of this endeavour is a portal, which allows users to discover material from every member state and every domain in Europe. However, this represents only a small portion of all the treasures that have been digitized or should be digitized in the future. Europeana is now entering a new phase of its existence, where the focus will be even more than in the past on the contribution to the Creative Economy and Social Innovation. In this presentation we will explore the past, present and future scenarios of Europeana. | Harry is responsible for the strategy, business- and product development of Europeana, Europe’s Library, Museum and Archive. His main passion is the design and implementation of new business models that will support Europe in its aim to make our complete Heritage openly accessible for work, learning and pleasure. Prior to this Harry worked at the Amsterdam based thinktank Knowledgeland where he was responsible for business model innovation in the cultural heritage sector. Harry holds a MA in History from Leiden University and has worked over ten years in the Scientific Publishing Industry. Mediocre football player, reasonable cook, aspiring photographer. |
| 2016 |  | Wight, NJ Wild! Photographer CANADA | UP CLOSE: Living Wild! African Wildlife Through the Lens of NJ Wight The wild spaces of Africa engage the senses like no other place I have been. From the texture of elephants–the living landscapes that are fading from view, to the iconic lion whose roar must now be heard around the world, there is a heightened urgency to explore and capture her breathing wonder. NJ Wight Photographing wildlife presents unique aesthetic and technical challenges. NJ Wight has taken more than 80 game drives across 6 countries to observe and record the magnificence and minutia of African wildlife. Her vivid imagery combined with a lively narrative come together in this UP CLOSE: Living Wild! adventure in Africa. | Canadian born Nancie Wight worships at the altar of digital content–in all its forms–and has spent 25 years playing in the intersections of technology, communication, media and art. From pioneering digital media curriculum in the early nineties, to producing first generation mobile content, to exhibiting an online portfolio currently reaching 290k people through social media touch-points, Nancie has worked creatively in the digital content space for the past 25 years. A trip to Africa in 2008 would unknowingly change her life and she abandoned the Boardroom for the backseat of a Land Rover. As a wildlife photographer and storyteller, she brings her audience Up Close to the extraordinary Wild! Life that has transformed her thinking and shaped her creative expression. With a growing urgency, she is working to educate and spark a connection between her audience, the extraordinary animals she photographs and the conservation crisis that is threatening their existence. |
| 2013 |  | Wolf, Lior Professor of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University, ISRAEL Tel Aviv University ISRAEL | Computational companionship for large-scale digitization efforts The Digital Age has brought with it large-scale digitization of historical records. The modern scholar of history or of other disciplines is often faced today with hundreds of thousands of readily-available and potentially-relevant full or fragmentary documents, but without computer aids that would make it possible to find the sought-after needles in the proverbial haystack of online images. The problems are even more acute when documents are handwritten, since optical character recognition does not provide quality searchable texts. In this talk I will describe our experience working with digitized images of the Cairo Genizah manuscripts. Using computer-vision and machine-learning algorithms, we have been able to automatically classify Genizah manuscripts (which are spread out in more than seventy collections worldwide) by script style and thus identify tens of thousands of new “joins,” that is, matches between leaves in the same hand that were originally part of the same manuscript. This has led to the uncovering of numerous new humanities research directions concerning this collection, thus revolutionizing Genizah studies -- this despite the fact that these documents and fragments have already been extensively studied throughout the twentieth century. The developed tools are applicable to other collections as well and I will also present results obtained with images of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Tibetan Buddhist texts and manuscripts. | Prof. Lior Wolf is a faculty member at the School of Computer Science at Tel Aviv University. Previously, he was a post-doctoral associate in Prof. Poggio's lab at MIT. He graduated from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, where he worked under the supervision of Prof. Shashua. Lior Wolf was awarded the 2008 Sackler Career Development Chair, the Colton Excellence Fellowship for new faculty (2006-2008), the Max Shlumiuk award for 2004, and the Rothchild Fellowship for 2004. His joint work with Prof. Shashua in ECCV 2000 received the best paper award, and their work in ICCV 2001 received the Marr prize honorable mention. He was also awarded the best paper award at the post ICCV 2009 workshop on eHeritage, and the pre-CVPR2013 workshop on action recognition. Prof. Wolf research focuses on computer vision and applications of machine learning and includes topics such as document analysis, digital palaeography, video action recognition, and face identification. |
| 2013 |  | Zaman, Tim PhD Student, Delft University of Technology NETHERLANDS | Moving Towards The Ultimate Reproduction - Scanning And Printing of Paintings in High Resolution, Full-Color 3-D. Paintings are versatile near-planar objects with material characteristics that vary widely. The fact that like sculptures, paint itself also has an important material presence is often overlooked. This is because we have become used to enjoying these artworks through two dimensional media like prints and computer screens. The capture of the topography of the paint in 3-D is not only interesting for study, restoration and conservation, but it also facilitates making three dimensional reproductions through state-of-the-art 3-D printing methods. The design of a 3-D imaging device for paintings is challenging because of their varying material characteristics and subtle depth difference as opposed to the size of the canvas. No single imaging method is ideally suited for this task and each have specific drawbacks. We propose a hybrid design consisting out of normal studio equipment, where stereo imaging (two cameras) is aided by the fringe projection technique (1 projector). Fringe projection is aided by sparse stereo matching to serve as an image encoder. The encoded images then aid the stereo cameras triangulate each pixel they observe. In this manner, we simultaneously capture both the color and depth, yielding perfect image registration. Through high-end camera's, special lenses and filters we capture a surface area of 170 square centimeters per capture with an in-plane effective resolution of 50 micron and a depth precision of 9 micron. Semi-automated positioning makes the capture possible of paintings like the 2 square meter big Jewish Bride by Rembrandt, yielding a billion points point-cloud, all labeled with their correct color. Another self-portrait by Rembrandt and work of Van Gogh were also captured to test the performance of the system. This data is then immediately ready for 3-D printing (the easiest way to visualize huge 3-D models). This was done through a specialized high resolution full color 3-D printer, yielding a very convincing reproduction by accurately portraying the topography. | Tim Zaman (1988) received his BSc degree in mechanical engineering and a MSc degree in biorobotics from the Delft University of Technology, where he specialized in computer vision. For his thesis he developed a 3D scanner for paintings that simultaneously captures color and topography. This scanner has recently been used to replicate the (2 square metre big) Jewish Bride by Rembrandt yielding a 3D pointcloud containing over a billion points. He is currently a part-time PhD student at the Delft University of Technology, developing novel imaging systems for cultural heritage. |