6Sight conference announces additions to its program

The new sessions include an in-depth examination of the revolutionary new field of Computational Photography, a session exploring future consumer relationships with imaging technology, and a panel on next-generation electronic displays.

Computational Photography extends digital photography by providing the capability to record much more information than conventional digital cameras, to produce new forms of visual information such as wide field-of-view images, multi-spectral images, depth images and more. The field has exploded in recent years with fundamental breakthroughs coming out of computer graphics and computer vision research. This session will include an overview of computational photography, followed by more in-depth examination of some of its applications.

One of these applications is Image-Based Relighting where, by collecting multiple images of an object under varying lighting conditions, the reflectance of the object can be estimated for each pixel. This allows not only changing the lighting interactively under user control, but also being able to change the apparent material properties of the object, revealing surface detail not otherwise visible.

Another application involves turning the physical functions of optical lenses into software modules. This provides the ability to change the focus in an everyday picture after the photograph is taken, among other revolutionary developments.

The session will also include an assessment by Kevin Connor, senior director of product management for Digital Imaging at Adobe Inc. who will discuss how the ability to blend video and still images for dynamic slideshows, 3D experiences that enable people to navigate within scenes, and in the development of innovative lenses that allow changes in perspective after the fact will create new ways people will soon interact with their images.

In addition to Connor, speakers on the Computational Photography session include Tom Malzbender, senior research scientist in the Media and Mobile Systems Lab within Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, and Ren Ng, Founder and CEO of Refocus Imaging whose technology developed in the Stanford Computer Science department and won the prestigious ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2007.

Another new session explores how the relationship between technology and customer expectations is shaping the evolution of digital imaging. The topic will be presented by Lee Shupp, executive vice president at the innovation consulting firm Cheskin. A trained futurist, Shupp guides clients such as Microsoft and other global technology clients in understanding the role that people and culture play in driving innovation. “The symbiotic relationship between rapidly evolving consumer behavior and pervasive digital imaging technology – how these influence each other – is key to innovation in this space,” explains Shupp. “I’m pleased to be a part of 6Sight where these types of future-thinking conversations are taking place.”

The third new session will examine Next Generation Electronic Displays, including screens offering extended color gamut and dynamic range, depth perception, and innovative user interfaces to work with collections of images. Presenters in this session include Lee Corkran, CEO and Founder of BrightQube; Mark Yahiro, Senior Vice President with PureDepth; and Stanley Kim, Principal, Engineering Management and Technology Planning with Samsung.

The full program can be found at www.6Sight.com . A limited number of spaces remain available in the 6Sight New Technology Fair, for more information, contact Joe Byrd at JByrd@6Sight.com.