Getting Excited about Seattle
by Paul Drzaic President, Society for Information Display
In a few short months, it will be time once again for the annual SID Symposium, Seminar & Exhibition, this year to be held in the always-popular venue of Seattle, Washington, during the week of May 23–28. As the display industry (and the rest of the world, for that matter) shakes off the economic crash of 2009, Display Week will prove that some very impressive innovation has been going on over the past year in electronic displays. It is clear to me that this is going to be a very special gathering.
After a year in which travel and conference participation was restricted, there is a lot of pent-up energy on the part of display technologists looking forward to revealing their latest advances to the world. While we expect to see contributions across all areas, this year we are planning a special focus on several emerging display technologies. The aim is to provide attendees with an intensive view of a select number of topics that will be driving future growth for the industry. These special-focus areas include advanced technologies for television, green technologies, electronic paper, touch interfaces, and solid-state lighting. The importance of these topics is well-known to anyone participating in the electronic-display industry. SID is pleased to enable the ensuing collaboration and idea generation that will continue to drive progress in these fields.
Another topic of interest is the way in which organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays are encroaching into areas traditionally dominated by liquid-crystal displays. Dr. S. S. Kim of Samsung Mobile Display will provide a keynote address at Display Week that describes a future with OLED displays becoming the display system of choice in several key application areas. OLED displays will also be well-represented in the technology and business programs for the week.
SID is taking advantage of its location in Seattle to tie into two areas where local companies are driving groundbreaking applications. Steve Bathiche, Director of Research at Microsoft, will describe in a keynote address some exciting advances in interactive displays, with applications in entertainment, commerce, and communications that rely on a combination of sensors and displays. If you know any teenagers, you can whet their appetite for developments in future gaming systems by mentioning this talk to them.
Boeing Vice President and Chief Engineer Mike Sinnett will address avionic-based displays in a third keynote talk. Displays appear in aviation in areas ranging from cockpit controls to entertainment systems. Aircraft present a unique set of challenges for implementing displays, with increasing integration into the avionic infrastructure.
Solid-state lighting will also be a major theme of the upcoming SID meeting. There will be extensive coverage in the technical and business conferences and some special extra coverage as well. At the SID Awards Luncheon, Terry Schmidt, Chief Scientist at Christie Digital Systems, will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the projection technology used in the last summer Olympic games, in Beijing. Who can forget the spectacular use of lighting and displays in the games architecture and in the opening ceremony? You can learn how it was all done in Seattle.
This year, submissions to the technical program were so numerous, and of high quality, that we're near the bursting point. Nearly 500 papers were accepted from the 680 abstracts submitted, based on the review of industry experts to ensure that SID papers meet our high-quality standards. In the program, we will have three days of papers on 3-D technology, as well as featured sessions on touch technologies, solid-state lighting, and green manufacturing – over 20 sessionsin all, plus posters, just on these hot topics.
Keep an eye on the SID 2010 Web site, http://www.sid2010.org. There, you can learn about the mix of seminars and business conferences, the SID exhibition, our special event, and the symposium as the details become finalized. We have several additional surprises in store, so stay tuned! •