CHICAGO (SIGGRAPH 2020) – In a move that truly thinks beyond the ordinary, SIGGRAPH 2020 welcomes cyber illusionist Marco Tempest as its virtual keynote speaker.
For its 47th year, the conference has shifted to a fully online event, spanning two weeks from 17–28 August with access to on-demand content available through 27 October, and registration is now open.
Tempest, whose day job is as executive director of New York’s magicLab, began his performing career as a stage magician and manipulator, winning awards and establishing an international reputation as a master illusionist. Since then, his interest in computer-generated imagery has led him to incorporate video and digital technology into his work — and eventually to develop a new form of contemporary illusion — which he has demonstrated in multiple TED Talks, among other speaking engagements.
“In a year during which the COVID-19 pandemic has led to major change across the many industries that make up our SIGGRAPH community, adding illusion to our virtual keynote is an exciting opportunity for the conference,” said SIGGRAPH 2020 Conference Chair Kristy Pron, of Walt Disney Imagineering. “We could all use a bit of magic these days.”
For his keynote session, Tempest will combine mixed reality, storytelling, gestural sensing, and swarm robotics to give participants a glimpse of a delightful augmented future … right now.
He shared, “I am absolutely delighted to present at SIGGRAPH 2020. It is a true honor to share my creative practice and passion with such an incredible group of industry experts, scientists, designers, wizards, and artists.”
Beyond his work with magicLab, a science consortium that explores illusion and digital technology, Tempest is a Director’s Fellow at the MIT Media Lab and a creative consultant at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He specializes in developing immersive experiences of future technologies and his background is deeply embedded in the tech industry, where he regularly interacts with product teams in an advisory capacity or as a consultant or developer for prototype consumer technologies.
The 2020 keynote session will be streamed virtually on Monday, 24 August at 11 a.m. CDT (noon EDT, 9 a.m. PDT). Access to the keynote is available to Ultimate and Enhanced virtual pass levels.