Interview with Ken Perlin, SIGGRAPH ASIA 2011 speaker 
















By FARHATNAZ ANSARI

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22 November, 2011 - 16:14



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Ken Perlin, New York University Department of Computer Science Professor, will be presenting in the session The Future of Computer Graphics at SIGGRAPH ASIA 2011 on Thursday, 15 December 2011 as a Featured Speaker. Ken will comment on his vision of a future where advancing technologies allow humans to simply perceive the world as a ubiquitous and seamlessly integrated augmented reality.


AnimationXpress.com‘s Farhatnaz Ansari interviewed Ken Perlin about Computer Graphics, performance capture, future of augmented reality and more...


Excerpts


Tell us something about yourself? 
I am a professor in the New York University department of computer science. My research focuses on computer graphics, user interaction and educational games and interfaces.


What are the different things you‘ll be sharing in your presentation, ‘The Future of Computer Graphics‘? 
I will be giving a glimpse into what computer graphics might be like in the future.


What have been the trends in the Computer Graphics space in the recent past that have interested you? 
I have been very interested in the thinking that has been going on in the larger technology/art community around ways of using the 3D depth camera capability in the Microsoft Kinect. I think it represents just at the beginning of a revolution in how we will interact with computers.


What according to you is the future of Performance Capture? 
I believe that we take Performance Capture for granted as it is everywhere and a part of our everyday lives that we make use of, the same way we now take light bulbs for granted.


How well you think Computer Graphics and Stereoscopy gel together? 
The problem with the current generation of stereoscopic cinema is that the image does not vary when you move your head. It will be a great technical challenge to add motion parallax to the experience, but once that happens, I think stereoscopy will become far more important.


What do you think is the future of Augmented Reality? And in which areas do you see augmented reality being used commercially? 
Eventually, I see augmented reality being everywhere, but it might take a while. Currently augmented reality is associated with smartphones, but I see this as merely a transitional technology. Augmented reality will only truly become central to our everyday lives when it can be used without requiring us to look at smartphones.