Siggraph doesn't happen till July but it is already showing what amazing things are going to be unveiled. A video condensing some of the work being presented is well worth seeing. 

If you don't know about Siggraph you must be new to the graphics world. This is the place that researchers into graphics most want to present their results. This year there are 115 technical papers, selected from 480 submissions. 

The ACM has put together a video showing some of the more impressive things that are going to be presented. When you watch it keep your mouse near the pause button because, unlike most You Tube videos, this one doesn't linger long on any particular topic. Some of the presentations are so impressive you really need to give them a bit more time to sink in. And be warned, the first one, the high resolution 3D modeler is one of them - look out for the snowball:

What was the haptic device shown for just a few seconds. It looks like a vortex gun that fires blasts of air to interact with the player. If so, it's very clever and I want one.

As to the simulated plants I guess they would still die if they had to interact with me. 

It also looks as if 3D printing and construction have made more of an impact at this year's Siggraph. A system to allow you to design a free standing masonry model looks cool, but how does it scale up to real blocks?

Finally, I'd like to try the handwriting beautification system on my scrawl - it would probably choke and spit out the message "not human".  

If you would like to see some of the topics that didn't make the video, visit SIGGRAPH 2013 Technical Papers Preview. If you want to see a full list of all of the papers, it is at Technical Papers.

You can be sure that when Siggraph happens there will be more news here covering all the amazing ideas in detail - the problem is going to be which ones to cover!