Sony Launches the Sony Creators Conference

Tokyo, Japan — July 11, 2023 – Sony Group Corporation ("Sony") today announced the first-ever Sony Creators Conference, introducing a full slate of technical talks and panel discussion sessions that spotlight Sony as a brand at the intersection of technology and creativity. The two-day event will showcase the works of creators across Sony who are pursuing their creative vision through the use of groundbreaking technology. In this first year, the Sony Creators Conference will be co-located within SIGGRAPH 2023, August 8-9, at the Los Angeles Convention Center (California, US).

"Technology in the hands of creators can bring new forms of entertainment to life,” commented Dr. Hiroaki Kitano, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Sony Group Corporation. "At Sony, we want to work with creators to develop the next generation of technology that will move entertainment forward, which we believe is an essential part of our civilization. I'm excited to launch our conference to showcase our commitment to empowering creators, whether it be artists, innovators, engineers, or scientists."

Focused on the voices and work from a wide range of creators across Sony, the conference features speakers from the gaming, technology and film industries and many more. The panels cover a wide range of topics -- from technologies enabling the cutting-edge visuals on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to bringing optical tracking to the virtual world of sports to the development of a superhuman racing AI agent that elevates the gameplay experience.

Kitano will be featured as a keynote speaker for SIGGRAPH 2023 on August 9, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time. He will invite a range of creators leading the entertainment space across the Sony Group, to tell the story of how they employed creativity and technology to realize their creative visions for the world.

SIGGRAPH attendees can register for the keynote and talk sessions through the SIGGRAPH event site https://s2023.siggraph.org/register/. More information on the conference and livestream will be made available in the coming weeks at https://square.sony.com/scc2023/.

[Sony Creators Conference]

Keynote: Pioneering the future of creation – Join Hiroaki Kitano on how technology impacts creation

• ・Dr. Hiroaki Kitano (Senior Executive Vice President and CTO, Sony Group Corporation) with guest speakers
• ・Date/time: August 9, 2023 at 9:30 -10:30 a.m. (doors open at 9 a.m.) Pacific time, Los Angeles Convention Center (SIGGRAPH registration required) or join online here https://square.sony.com/scc2023/

Talk Sessions:
A selection of sessions can be found at:
https://s2023.siggraph.org/session/?sess=sess436 (Day 1)
https://s2023.siggraph.org/session/?sess=sess437 (Day 2).
More sessions will be added ahead of the conference. Sessions will also be available online concurrent with the event at https://square.sony.com/scc2023/. A sample of sessions include:

• ・Engineering for Creativity at Sony Pictures Animation (SPA) (August 8, 9:30 - 10:15 a.m. PDT)
  Discover how tools for production can help to enable creativity, not hinder it. Hear from SPA's executive director of Technology, Yiotis Katsambas, as he shows how innovation is paving the way for artists to break new ground in animation.

・Sony Pictures Imageworks: Innovating Live-Action and Animated Projects (August 8, 12:30 - 1:15 p.m. PDT)
Explore Imageworks’ innovative approach to creating the unique and groundbreaking visuals on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

• ・A New Frontier - Taking Optical Tracking to the Virtual World of Sports (August 8, 2:00 - 2:45 p.m. PDT)
  Join Sony on the live sports data journey, from the field to the virtual world, and discover how Hawk-Eye and Beyond Sports are building the next frontier of sports entertainment.

• ・Gran Turismo Sophy^TM, an AI Breakthrough in PlayStation® racing simulation game, Gran Turismo^TM. (August 9, 12:30 - 1:15 p.m. PDT)
  Discover how Sony AI developed a novel reinforcement learning platform to master the complex sport of race car driving in the highly realistic driving simulator Gran Turismo^TM 7.

• ・Next Gen Development for Games (August 9, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. PDT)
  Join us for an exclusive conversation about generative machine learning and rendering technologies with developers and creators at PlayStation Studios that continues to push cutting-edge game development technology to new heights.

About Sony Research
Sony Research Inc. was established in April 2023 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation with the mission to “pioneer the future of creation.” To achieve this, Sony Research will undertake research and development of unprecedented disruptive technologies that aim to empower creators around the world to maximize their creativity, the value of their IP, and fan engagement. Operating globally with partners around the world, Sony Research will initially focus on the research areas of Sensing, AI, and Virtual Spaces with plans to encompass additional research areas and challenges in the future. For more information visit https://research.sony

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Rebecca Garcia
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