The notion of looking backwards as we continually move forward often refers to how the past influences our perception of the future. In the field of expanded animation, we often strive for innovative approaches using the latest technology and contemporary techniques, yet the outcome is always shaped by our knowledge and past experiences. By creating an immersive Time Tunnel in 2023, Mitchell invited participants to traverse the history of computer graphics experientially and didactically in hopes that future creators and thinkers would not only become interested in the past but be inspired to move beyond it.
In the summer of 2023, the SIGGRAPH organization celebrated its 50th conference. Mitchell coordinated a series of events, talks and displays to mark the occasion with the immersive, interactive Time Tunnel as the core of the experience. The content for the walls of the Time Tunnel was a mix of real-time generated and pre-rendered animations and data visualizations. Using innovative technology to create a fully immersive experience of this magnitude, we capitalized on the idea that in the future, reality and virtuality will be fused. The Time Tunnel and other SIGGRAPH 50th conference celebration events merged the past, present, and future to create an illusion that transported the viewer to various points in time relative to their personal experiences.
The field of Expanded Animation is a wide-open discipline where the impossible is possible and the past can become the future. The visual styles, technical innovations, failures, and successes of the past have helped to pave the path we are currently on. This talk will showcase the works of the SIGGRAPH History celebration. It will also discuss altered perceptions of time and how immersive experiences can encourage people to think differently as they forge ahead into the future.