Brilliant TED Talk by David McCandless. Via VizWorld

Thanks to VisWorld.com for the post!

The Computer Graphics industry is suffering from its own success. Recent smashes like Avatar, Toy Story 3, and others have several people thinking that computer graphics is ‘done’, there’s no more research to do. The technology has matured to the point where we can not only realistically create digital actors, but completely make up alien planets and worlds. What is possibly left to do?

Such thinking is beginning to impact researchers and academics financially, as government grants are becoming more and more scarce. Shrinking government budgets doesn’t help things, so the academic community has decided to come together and write up a lengthy report to the National Science Foundation (NSF) detailing areas that still need research.

While the paper is still in development, they decided to discuss some of the areas with us and then open the panel for a ‘townhall’ format to allow the audience to pitch in with new ideas and contributions.

They broke it into five areas.

The Virtual Human
Very Large Datasets
Interaction
Education and Knowledge Dissemenation
Modeling Simulation To Action To Design
(…)

Read the rest of SIGGRAPH: Future Directions of Graphics Research (1,175 words)

VisWorld

N-3D DEMO from aircord on Vimeo.

Something cool to do with your iPad when you not using it. Could be an interesting way to create installation pieces. I’d love to see a large version of this using a 48″ plasma screen.

Created by Aircord in Japan
via VisWorld

Tuberculosis – 1 from Travis Vermilye on Vimeo.

Part one of an animation showing the process of tuberculosis entering the body and the body’s immune response.

Photo illustrations of random people via their fridge. Insightful.

Photos by Mark Menjivar
Via Good

“over the course of the fair, 40 000 worker bees were released into the case to complete a wax honeycomb structure over the figure of a martyred christ rising out of the chaos, his weight seeming to be upheld by the mass strength of the swarm. the figure within the vitrine is made of a laser sintered framework in which the industrious bees created a honeycomb skin over before filling each cell with the honey they produce. then bees worked to remove the honey from the cells and return it to the beehive, cleaning the figure back to the wax cells they originally created.”

via neatorama

Click the image to download the pdf file.

Der Mensch als Industriepalast [Man as Industrial Palace] from Henning Lederer on Vimeo.

A fantastic animated version of the original poster by Fritz Kahn: Der Mensch als Industriepalast [Man as Industrial Palace] from 1926.

For more information about the project go to:
industriepalast.com

Concept & Animation: Henning M. Lederer
Sound-Design: David Indge