For many first time ACM SIGGRAPH attendees, the Sunday special session called the Fast Forward Papers Preview is often overlooked. The Fast Forward session is a live overview of the papers that are to be presented at this year's conference. Each paper is the culmination of a year or more of research and development by individuals and teams spanning the globe. The sessions themselves not only represent the hard work of the authors and their collaborators, but also that of the Papers Committee and an army of anonymous reviewers.

At the Fast Forward session, each paper is granted 50 seconds to pitch their paper to an audience of academics, engineers, students and other practitioners. Some are attracted to this session because it provides a concise overview of the technical track of the SIGGRAPH conference. Attendees can quickly decided which papers interest them without having to skim through all the paper abstracts. Ask anyone why it's a standing room only crowd every year, and the reason is always related to the theatrics employed by authors to lure prospective audience members to their papers presentation.

Professor Marc Levoy, this year's Papers Committee Chair, presided over this year's Fast Forward. Before kicking off the preview, he assembled all the past Papers Chairs on the stage for a special tribute to Janet McAndless.

Janet McAndless has, for the past 10 years, been the human interface between the papers submission system and the authors. She has also served as institutional memory for the committee, reminding them about procedures and processes. For her continued contributions and service, the past ten years of Papers Chairs chipped in to award her a plaque as well as a much deserved vacation in Italy.

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After acknowledging all who had contributed to this year's Papers Program, Prof. Levoy started the Fast Forward session with two warnings. He reminded us of 2005's wardrobe malfunction and ominously noted that speakers who abused their time at the microphone would face dire penalties.

Perhaps the most unexpected appearance was the presenter for Practical Motion Capture in Everyday Surroundings who bore a striking resemblance to another academic from Kazakhstan.

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Several presenters had two papers accepted at this year's conference, which made for a bit of comedy. In Scene Completion Using Millions of Photographs, Professor Alexie Efros pitched a paper where a patch of an image could be deleted and then replaced with a seamlessly matching patch, without any user interaction, using a large database of images. He remained on the stage to present the next paper which was the dual to the problem addressed in the first paper: how to add perceptually plausible elements into an existing image using lots of data. The paper is aptly titled Photo Clip Art.

Audiences often passively watch a presenter, but when the presenter for Plushie An Interactive Design System For Plush Toys asked "Do you like plush dolls?" the audience roared with a resounding "YES". In return, the audience was awarded the opportunity to see just what Plushie was capable of as a 6 feet tall teddy bear balloon plushie appeared from behind the curtain.

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Attendees were also treated to a number of very dramatic readings, particularly by the presenter for the papers Line Drawing Via Abstracted Shape and Dynamic 2D Patterns for Shading 3D Shapes. His animated presentation closed each time with 'You'll think I'm insane!' which received a laugh from the audience everytime.

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But like every year, there were presentations that you just had to be there to appreciate it. Ron Popeil made an appearance to promote Multi-Aperture Photography. He, and a number of other presenters, delivered their 50 seconds in rhyme. The authors for Frequency Domain Normal Map Filtering took the theatrics a step further, creating a summer blockbuster movie preview-style reel.

Although the conference doesn't go into full tilt until Monday, Sunday's Fast Forward Papers Preview special session is a must-see session for all those who are interested in the papers at the SIGGRAPH conference. Even if you're not planning on attending the papers session, join the computer graphics and interactive techniques researchers as they show off their creative side in 50 seconds or less.