Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545821
28 cgw a p r i l • m ay • j u n e 2 0 2 6 c omputer graphics and robotics have been converging for years. At SIGGRAPH 2026, that convergence takes center stage as robots learn, move, create, and interact through technologies originally developed for film, games, and visual effects. Tak- ing place July 19th–23rd at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the conference shows how advances in computer graphics are helping shape the future of intelligent machines, revealing a future where virtual worlds are increasingly used to train, test, and inspire robotic systems. At SIGGRAPH 2026, robotics is not confined to a single program. It runs as a common thread across the conference, appearing in Technical Papers, Emerging Technologies, Courses, Frontiers, Spatial Storytelling, Art Papers, Talks, and Technical Workshops. Together, these sessions demonstrate how the same technologies used to create digital characters, immersive worlds, and visual effects are in- creasingly being used to design, train, and deploy robots capable of operating in complex real-world environments. "The lines between computer graphics, physics, and AI are blur- ring. Because of that, you're seeing robotics become more perva- sive at the conference because these fields are naturally becoming more intertwined," said SIGGRAPH 2026 Conference Chair Chris Redmann. "It opens up new horizons and pathways for computer graphics research and new modes of interactivity, where the phys- ical world and the digital world become even more complementary." A central theme across this year's robotics programming is simu- lation-first development, in which robots are designed, trained, and validated in virtual environments before entering the physical world. A trio of NVIDIA-led courses anchors the thread: "How to Build End- To-End Physical AI Systems for Robots" covers data generation, training, and edge deployment for humanoid and general-purpose robots; "Accelerate Robot Learning with NVIDIA Isaac Lab and New- ton" introduces a GPU-accelerated physics engine for training and evaluating robot policies; and "Simulating a Dextrous Hand for Ro- botics with OpenUSD" walks through preparing simulation-ready robot assets. The same ideas drive a strong Technical Papers showing, where "SimArt: Decomposing Monolithic Meshes into Sim-ready Artic- ulated Assets via MLLM" converts static 3D meshes into simula- tion-ready articulated assets, "MotionBricks: Scalable Real-Time Motions with Modular Latent Generative Model and Smart Primi- tives" generates real-time motion for animation and robotics, "Re- Actor: Reinforcement Learning for Physics-Aware Motion Retarget- ing" from Disney Research uses reinforcement learning to retarget human motion onto humanoid and quadruped forms, and "Compu- tational Design of Terrestrial Robots with Anisotropic Friction", from teams including Carnegie Mellon University, Genesis AI, Tsinghua University, and Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute, co-designs robot bodies and controllers for locomotion. Rounding out the thread, the Technical Workshop "Differentiable Physics for Graphics and AI" examines how differentiable simulation is reshaping graphics, robotics, and design, and the Frontiers Work- shop "Digital Twins for Science and Industry" looks at how virtual replicas are transforming healthcare, energy, and scientific visualiza- tion. A second thread, concentrated in the Emerging Technologies program, reimagines how people and robots interact, oen in strik- ingly personal ways. In "Katakko: Embodiment of Modular Robots through Automatic Motion Mapping", attendees assemble com- munication-oriented modules into a personalized social robot and embody it through an algorithm that maps their own movements onto the machine. "Shall We Dance? Resonance of Intentions with an Embodied Agent based on the Free Energy Principle" introduc- es an agent that negotiates intentions through physical interaction, synchronizing with a human partner's choreography and tempo in real time. "Telekinetic Drive: Controlling Robots with Intent-Leaking Mi- cro-Motions" lets participants move a robot arm through intent alone, drawing on the subtle micro-motions the body produces when it prepares to act; while "EmoMime: Augmenting Social Be- havior and Self-Expression via Wearable Robotic Limbs" showcases a neck-mounted wearable that amplifies social signals and enables comforting self-touch. "Demonstrating StepDance: Redesigned CNC Machines Integrating Real-Time Control in Digital Fabrication" blends pre-planned and real-time control for cra-driven fabrica- tion. Robotics also serves as a creative medium across the Art Papers, Spatial Storytelling, and Talks programs. In the Art Paper "Electro- spun Fields: 3D Nano-Fiber Material Computation as Design Meth- IN FOCUS SIGGRAPH 2026 EXPLORES THE FUTURE OF ROBOTICS HOW COMPUTER GRAPHICS, SIMULATION, AND CREATIVE EXPRESSION ARE SHAPING THE NEXT GENERATION