From left to right: Kevin Bolen, Mary Huang, and Derek Ham
In this episode of SIGGRAPH Spotlight, SIGGRAPH 2022 Immersive Pavilion Chair Derek Ham (department head and associate professor of art + design, NC State University) sits down with two SIGGRAPH 2021 contributors from ILMxLAB, lead UI artist Mary Huang and interactive audio supervisor Kevin Bolen. Through the lenses of “Vader Immortal” and “Tales From the Galaxy’s Edge,” Huang and Bolen discuss the audio and design process for expanding the “Star Wars” universe into VR, and share some of their favorite scenes in these interactive experiences. Plus, the two even hint at what’s next for “Star Wars” in VR.
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Learn more about our guests below, and don’t miss them at SIGGRAPH 2021! Register now to join us online, 9–13 August. For more from episode partner AWS, visit pages.awscloud.com/siggraph.2021.
About Our Guests
Mary Huang is the lead UI artist on “Star Wars: Tales From the Galaxy’s Edge.” She has previously worked for Oculus, Amazon, and a range of startups designing novel user experiences with emerging technologies.
Kevin Bolen supervises Skywalker Sound’s interactive audio department, which combines decades of cinematic audio experience with bleeding-edge technologies to create unforgettable immersive audio experiences such as the Academy Award-winning “Carne y Arena,” the Peabody Award-winning “Queerskins, A Love Story,” and ILMxLAB’s Emmy-nominated “Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series.” Kevin’s team collaborates with partners including Disney, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Legendary Entertainment, and ILMxLAB to extend the power of cinematic storytelling into location-based experiences and home entertainment alike.
May the force be with you.
