Their contributions to the field of 3D Graphics have been transformative, and they continue to shape the future of this industry. They will  provide new insights into the evolving world of 3D technologies and immersive environments. Join us in-person in Guimarães, Portugal or on-line from September 25-27, 2024.
Early registration is still open. We have an action packed Program with research papers, workshops, tutorials, Industrial use cases and more. Enter our HAnim Music  Animation competition (deadline September 1st). Prizes up to $1,200.
 

Dieter W. Fellner - Fraunhofer Institute

Immersive Realities – From Mass Digitization to High-Fidelity Rendering

The talk will address the challenges we face as well as current solutions to bring part of our real-world environment into the virtual world, interact with it, and bring it back into our real world. Particular emphasis will be given to industrial-scale solutions to 3D (actually nD, n>3) mass-digitization, Web3D-enabled interaction within digital worlds, and 3D color printing.

Dieter W. Fellner is a professor of computer science at TU Darmstadt, Germany and Director of the Fraunhofer Institute of Computer Graphics (IGD) at the same location. He is also professor at TU Graz (Austria) and CEO of Fraunhofer Austria. His research activities over the last years covered efficient rendering and visualization algorithms, generative and reconstructive modeling, virtual and augmented reality, graphical aspects of internet-based multimedia information systems, cultural heritage and digital libraries as well as visual healthcare technologies. 

Leonel Morgado - Universidade Aberta

Immersive Learning Environments and Co-intelligence

The talk will address how immersive learning environments are being used and their relationship to co-intelligence, using generative artificial intelligences as intellectual partners. Immersion is approach as a phenomenon arising from spatial, narrative, and agency conceptual dimensions, showcasing how this framework supports the interpretation and design of educational experiences. Using recent research findings on educational strategies and practices with immersive environments, the talk will illustrate how to plan and implement immersive learning cases grounded in the literature. The discussion will highlight current research challenges, aiming to inspire innovative educational practices and future research directions.

Leonel Morgado is a full Professor at the Portuguese Open University, where he lectures on research methods, programming, and the use of virtual worlds, and a Senior Researcher at the independent research unit INESC TEC. His main research interest is the use and development of immersive learning environments, which he pursues since 2000. He led and participated in multiple research projects, funded by partners from industry, civil society, national government, and the European Union. 

Miguel Otaduy - Universidad Rey Juan Carlos & Meta Reality Labs Research 

Learning reduced models for physics-based simulation in VR

Virtual reality puts a hard constraint on the compute budget of physics-based simulations: they must be executed at interactive rates, and using minimal hardware resources that we can just wear. Reduced simulation models offer a solution to this challenge, by focusing the degrees of freedom of the simulation on a compact space that best describes the relevant physical phenomena. This talk will cover our experience on the design of expressive reduced spaces for VR simulation of bodies, hands, or cloth. Our methodology explores the use of neural representations at different stages of the modeling process, with the common theme of designing accurate nonlinear mappings from reduced space to the full-dimensional space. The talk will cover relevant research carried out while at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.

Miguel Otaduy received his BS degree in electrical engineering from Mondragón University, in 2000, and the MS and PhD degrees in computer science from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 2003 and 2004, respectively. He is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC Madrid), where he leads the Multimodal Simulation Lab. From 2005 to 2008, he was a research associate with ETH Zurich. In 2022 he joined Meta Reality Labs Research as research scientist. In 2017 he co-founded SEDDI for the development of innovative digital solutions for the textile and fashion industries, and he was its Chief Science Officer until 2022. His research interests extend across physics-based simulation, covering algorithmic design or applied problems for virtual touch, animation, fashion, computational medicine, or fabrication. He has received two major excellence research grants in Europe: ERC Consolidator Grant (2017), ERC Starting Grant (2011).

Anne Bajart, European Commission

EU strategy on Web4.0 and virtual worlds

The talk will present the recently published European strategy for Web4.0 and Virtual Worlds, with a focus on standardisation and interoperability issues.

Anne Bajart is Deputy Head of Unit for Interactive Technologies, Digital for Culture and Education at DG CONNECT. She previously was Head of Sector for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in DG CONNECT. She holds a PhD in electrical engineering. Before joining the European Commission, she worked as researcher, lecturer and project manager.