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Academy Award-nominated producer, technologist speaking Friday
Feb. 29, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Academy Award-nominated producer and computer graphics pioneer Donna Cox will speak on Indiana University's Bloomington campus Friday (March 3) at 11 a.m.
The public is invited to attend Cox's lecture, which will be in Room 102 of the Fine Arts building. It also may be viewed over the VIC network in room 2101 of the Education/Social Work building at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.
Cox, IU's first visiting distinguished technologist, will discuss how technology is exponentially transforming the way researchers collaborate, scientists see, and artists invent. Her lecture, titled "Algorithmic Art, Scientific Visualization, Remote Virtual Collaboration and Other Paradoxes," will present a visual voyage tracing the convergence of art and science, using computer graphics technology, to address some of humanity's oldest questions.
Cox has combined computer technology and art in innovative ways to create new forms of scientific visualization, garnering numerous awards and international acclaim. She is regarded as a pioneer of the "second wave" in computer art and is well known for her work in developing the idea of "Renaissance Teams."
In 1996, Cox put her Renaissance Team theory to the test when she assembled top-rated filmmakers, scientists, astronomers, physicists, biologists and computer animation experts to create the Academy Award-nominated IMAX film, Cosmic Voyage.
Her work also is helping to revolutionize the way Hollywood makes movies. Working with colleagues from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), Cox developed "Virtual Director," a virtual reality choreographer that allows animators to be completely immersed in their scene as never before, providing them new levels of creativity and control.
Cox is currently a professor in the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and holds a joint appointment with NCSA.
(George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu)