SIGGRAPH 2017
May 7, 2017 7:59 AM Subscribe
Cool video of the latest in computer graphics research and computer wizardry from this year's SIGGRAPH.
In the future it will be possible to show anything can happen.
posted by njohnson23 at 9:02 AM on May 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 9:02 AM on May 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
Nothing is real and everything is possible
posted by The Whelk at 9:03 AM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 9:03 AM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
In the future, reality is malleable.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:37 AM on May 7, 2017
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:37 AM on May 7, 2017
In the future you won't be able to trust the past.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 9:39 AM on May 7, 2017
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 9:39 AM on May 7, 2017
Nothing is real, and nothing to get hung about.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:50 AM on May 7, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 9:50 AM on May 7, 2017 [18 favorites]
In the future we all live in the matrix.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:00 AM on May 7, 2017
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:00 AM on May 7, 2017
I was going through some stuff the other day and came across my passcard for SIGGRAPH '92. We've certainly come a long way in just 25 years.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:12 AM on May 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 10:12 AM on May 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
Related: this Flash Forward episode about a future where anyone can make a video showing anything.
posted by quaking fajita at 10:24 AM on May 7, 2017
posted by quaking fajita at 10:24 AM on May 7, 2017
I love SIGGRAPH. I mentioned it in the thread about the machine learning walking algorithm, but it's a dream conference for me.
My impression from the video is that machine learning and automatic processing of video imagery is something that's about to come down the pike for commercial applications. Sort of like how Photoshop filters and technology brought image manipulation to the masses that had previously been avant garde.
Also, RE: the Obama face generator and the collapse of objective reality, it's worth noting that The Nat'l Geographic image alteration controversy is a bit over 35 years old. I remember it being used as an illustrative example in a book that I read about how "THE IMAGE" would destroy all rational discourse. It's possible that they weren't wrong.
posted by codacorolla at 10:36 AM on May 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
My impression from the video is that machine learning and automatic processing of video imagery is something that's about to come down the pike for commercial applications. Sort of like how Photoshop filters and technology brought image manipulation to the masses that had previously been avant garde.
Also, RE: the Obama face generator and the collapse of objective reality, it's worth noting that The Nat'l Geographic image alteration controversy is a bit over 35 years old. I remember it being used as an illustrative example in a book that I read about how "THE IMAGE" would destroy all rational discourse. It's possible that they weren't wrong.
posted by codacorolla at 10:36 AM on May 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
Yeah, the Obama video piece is amazing. And the style transfer for video (looks fantastic). Deep learning for video is on its way... I'm curious whether they're treating the video as a sequence of images, or working directly on the key frames + motion vector representation that video formats use internally... I should go read some papers!
posted by kaibutsu at 11:01 AM on May 7, 2017
posted by kaibutsu at 11:01 AM on May 7, 2017
Also, the hamster fur thing is clearly going to be picked up in like every kids movie in approximately no time. (And the iridescent robots will be in every sci fi movie...)
posted by kaibutsu at 11:03 AM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by kaibutsu at 11:03 AM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only The Fast and the Furious.
posted by glonous keming at 11:11 AM on May 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by glonous keming at 11:11 AM on May 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
The "edit audio by typing" demo was equal parts cool and terrifying.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:15 AM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 11:15 AM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
Soon we'll need some sort of organization to separate what is real from what is fake. They could call it, I dunno, the 'Ministry of Truth' or something.
posted by dazed_one at 11:27 AM on May 7, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by dazed_one at 11:27 AM on May 7, 2017 [15 favorites]
Those surprised/terrified by the 'edit audio by typing' should check out Lyrebird, which is doing pretty incredible things with voice style transfer. Their demo is a segment with Obama, Trump, and Hillary talking about how awesome Lyrebird's technology is. (The Obama voice sounds most convincing to me...)
posted by kaibutsu at 11:45 AM on May 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by kaibutsu at 11:45 AM on May 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
There are ways to tell if images have been digitally manipulated that have to do with, say, statistical analysis of variations in adjacent bits. Is there a segment that comes to SIGGRAPH focusing on this? These are all cool things, but in terms of commercial applicability, tools able to detect fakery and manipulation would seem to be very valuable.
posted by fatbird at 1:45 PM on May 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by fatbird at 1:45 PM on May 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
There's a whole field known as image forensics that's concerned with detecting whether an image has been manipulated. I think most work in that area is published in image processing or digital forensics venues; on the other hand, SIGGRAPH is primarily concerned with creating images rather than analyzing them, so image forensics papers don't really get submitted here. Though there have been a couple of them in its sister journal, the ACM Transactions on Graphics, and those do get presented at SIGGRAPH as well.
(Disclosure: James O'Brien, one of the co-authors of the two papers I linked, was my postdoc supervisor.)
P.S. Not sure I should mention this, but the crowd simulation clip at 2:43 in this year's trailer is from my paper :)
posted by a car full of lions at 3:01 PM on May 7, 2017 [22 favorites]
(Disclosure: James O'Brien, one of the co-authors of the two papers I linked, was my postdoc supervisor.)
P.S. Not sure I should mention this, but the crowd simulation clip at 2:43 in this year's trailer is from my paper :)
posted by a car full of lions at 3:01 PM on May 7, 2017 [22 favorites]
The Obama voice sounds most convincing to me...
His speech therapy seems to be progressing nicely after his stroke...
I'm not convinced by the fake Obama videos either. The lips don't even match. Yeah, this is just the prototype, I know. Maybe the SIGGRAPH 2018 version will be more alarming.
My impression from the video is that machine learning and automatic processing of video imagery is something that's about to come down the pike for commercial applications.
I personally would be surprised if we don't see deep learning imagery (probably style transfer) in films/tv by the end of the year. If we haven't already.
posted by neckro23 at 3:09 PM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
His speech therapy seems to be progressing nicely after his stroke...
I'm not convinced by the fake Obama videos either. The lips don't even match. Yeah, this is just the prototype, I know. Maybe the SIGGRAPH 2018 version will be more alarming.
My impression from the video is that machine learning and automatic processing of video imagery is something that's about to come down the pike for commercial applications.
I personally would be surprised if we don't see deep learning imagery (probably style transfer) in films/tv by the end of the year. If we haven't already.
posted by neckro23 at 3:09 PM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
Well, if you're just trying to make yourself more paranoid...
I didn't see this one in the posted compilation video, but here's video from another SIGGRAPH 2017 paper.
posted by madmethods at 3:41 PM on May 7, 2017
I didn't see this one in the posted compilation video, but here's video from another SIGGRAPH 2017 paper.
posted by madmethods at 3:41 PM on May 7, 2017
I'm not convinced by the fake Obama videos either. The lips don't even match.
The fact that one person who is specifically alerted to look for signs of fakery is not convinced doesn't mean millions of people won't be convinced, especially if the out-of-sync lips are saying something they want to hear.
posted by Wolfdog at 4:11 PM on May 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
The fact that one person who is specifically alerted to look for signs of fakery is not convinced doesn't mean millions of people won't be convinced, especially if the out-of-sync lips are saying something they want to hear.
posted by Wolfdog at 4:11 PM on May 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
Some of the comments on this one are so sad/funny to me. "If I don't see it in [AAA vidya sequel] by next year it's bullshit" god gamers are dumb as hell.
posted by atoxyl at 4:37 PM on May 7, 2017
posted by atoxyl at 4:37 PM on May 7, 2017
I can't wait for the new inquisition, when they put that stuff into the sky, and we are in trouble if we don't believe it.
posted by Oyéah at 8:15 PM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 8:15 PM on May 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
"So in the future it will be impossible to prove anything actually happened?"
"Your Honor, we cannot accept this photograph in evidence. While it purports to show my client in a hotel bedroom with a woman not his wife, there is no way to prove the photograph is real. As we know, the craft of digital retouching has advanced to the point where a "photograph" can represent anything whatever. It could show my client in bed with Your Honor.
To be sure, digital retouching is still a somewhat expensive process. A black-and-white photograph like this, and the negative it's made from, might cost a few thousand dollars to concoct as fiction, but considering my client's social position and the financial stakes of the case, the cost of the technique is irrelevant here. If Your Honor prefers, the defense will state that this photograph is a fake, but that is not necessary. The photograph could be a fake; no can prove it isn't; therefore it cannot be admitted in evidence.
Photography has no place in this or any other courtroom. For that matter, neither does film, videotape or audiotape in case the plaintiff plans to introduce in evidence other media susceptible to digital retouching.
— Some lawyer, any day now"
Stewart Brand, The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at MIT, 1987
posted by bz at 2:13 AM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]
"Your Honor, we cannot accept this photograph in evidence. While it purports to show my client in a hotel bedroom with a woman not his wife, there is no way to prove the photograph is real. As we know, the craft of digital retouching has advanced to the point where a "photograph" can represent anything whatever. It could show my client in bed with Your Honor.
To be sure, digital retouching is still a somewhat expensive process. A black-and-white photograph like this, and the negative it's made from, might cost a few thousand dollars to concoct as fiction, but considering my client's social position and the financial stakes of the case, the cost of the technique is irrelevant here. If Your Honor prefers, the defense will state that this photograph is a fake, but that is not necessary. The photograph could be a fake; no can prove it isn't; therefore it cannot be admitted in evidence.
Photography has no place in this or any other courtroom. For that matter, neither does film, videotape or audiotape in case the plaintiff plans to introduce in evidence other media susceptible to digital retouching.
— Some lawyer, any day now"
Stewart Brand, The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at MIT, 1987
posted by bz at 2:13 AM on May 8, 2017 [2 favorites]
Seeing never has been believing. Eyes are the conduits of lies.
Now that computers can turn tricks the whole world is waking up to the fact that perception and illusion have no border, but to some of us that's old hat.
You never know who or what you might be talking to. Hello, World.
posted by Construction Concern at 4:11 AM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
Now that computers can turn tricks the whole world is waking up to the fact that perception and illusion have no border, but to some of us that's old hat.
You never know who or what you might be talking to. Hello, World.
posted by Construction Concern at 4:11 AM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
Real footage will be hashed and written to the Presidential blockchain and AI generated stuff is made unplayable by our Facebook implants.
posted by Damienmce at 6:21 AM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Damienmce at 6:21 AM on May 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
Also if you're scared of this, don't watch Forrest Gump.
posted by Damienmce at 6:22 AM on May 8, 2017
posted by Damienmce at 6:22 AM on May 8, 2017
About twenty years ago I read an online comic (at Electric Sheep, if anyone's interested). It was a near future dystopia, featuring a conversation between Bill Gates and someone I don't recall, which had something about the impending destruction of the world and a secret space program for rich people to flee the planet. All rather bleak and a little ham-fisted. But there was one line of dialog that always stayed with me: "television for the stupid and computers for the smart". As long as you're glued to a screen you're easy to control.
posted by dmh at 12:07 AM on May 9, 2017
posted by dmh at 12:07 AM on May 9, 2017
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posted by The Whelk at 8:56 AM on May 7, 2017 [8 favorites]