Image credit: Mavyn Vu © 2026 ACM SIGGRAPH
On Tuesday, 21 July, SIGGRAPH 2026 Real-Time Live! Chair Mk Haley and team welcomed attendees for another riveting edition of Real-Time Live!, the conference’s signature celebration of graphics and interactive technology working live on stage.
This year’s program featured eight demonstrations spanning AI-assisted creation, robotics, rendering, simulation, and digital performance. Each team took on the unique challenge that defines the event: Demonstrating their technology in front of a live audience while showcasing how real-time tools continue to expand what’s possible across computer graphics and interactive techniques.
Before diving into this year’s lineup, check out the Real-Time Live! trailer for a preview of the projects featured on stage, then read on for a recap of the technologies and ideas that made this year’s event memorable.
Promptable AI Camera
Imagine directing a virtual camera simply by describing what you want to see. This demo showcased a real-time camera system that responds to text prompts, allowing users to modify avatars, backgrounds, and visual effects live without complex production tools.
ZibraGDS: Cinematic-Quality Animated Geometry Compression and Real-Time Playback
Bringing high-quality animated geometry into real-time experiences remains a significant challenge. ZibraGDS showcased a compression and playback system designed to deliver cinematic-quality animated assets efficiently, helping bridge the gap between offline and real-time production workflows.
Game-Ready Hair in Minutes! Hair Mesh Modeling with Physics
Creating realistic digital hair has long been one of the most challenging tasks in character production. This demo introduced a Hair Mesh workflow that combines modeling tools with physics simulation, dramatically speeding up the process of creating game-ready hairstyles for real-time applications.
Olaf: Bringing an Animated Character to Life in the Physical World
One of the evening’s most memorable moments brought Disney’s Olaf into the physical world. Using reinforcement learning and custom robotics hardware, the team demonstrated how an animated character’s distinctive personality and movement can be translated into a real-world robotic performance.
HiPR: Hierarchical Progressive Rendering for Immediate Feedback
Waiting for a scene to fully re-render can slow creative iteration. HiPR demonstrated a new approach that re-renders only the areas affected by a change, helping artists receive visual feedback faster and spend more time creating.
Create Interactive 3D Assets in Seconds!
What if creating a fully animated 3D asset was as simple as submitting a prompt? This demo showcased a live system that generated textured, rigged, and animated 3D assets from images in seconds, with audience-submitted creations instantly appearing within a shared interactive scene.
Dissectible Anatomy: Embodied Exploration for Education
This presentation demonstrated how real-time simulation can transform anatomy education. Using detailed cryosection data, the team created virtual anatomical models that can be cut, torn, and dissected interactively, offering new ways to explore and understand the human body.
Runway Characters: Real-Time Expressive AI Characters From a Single Image
Starting with a single image, this presentation transformed static characters into expressive, conversational digital performers. Real-time lip-syncing, facial expressions, and head motion demonstrated how quickly AI-powered character creation continues to evolve.
Congratulations to this year’s award winners! Best in Show was awarded to “Create Interactive 3D Assets in Seconds!” and Audience Choice to “Dissectible Anatomy: Embodied Exploration for Education.”
