SID Display Week: Celebrating 60 Years of Innovation

THIS YEAR'S DISPLAY WEEK, THE ANNUAL International Symposium, Seminar, and Exhibition organized by the Society for Information Display (SID), is being held May 21–26 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It's occurring 60 years after the first annual event was held in the same city. On this anniversary, I want to reflect on where we are today. All around us, we are witnessing transformations in the ways we interact with technologies and devices. Today's human-technology interfaces are more natural, intuitive, and interactive than ever before, with visual displays at the center. We've seen the evolution of human inputs from joysticks, to mice and keyboards, to touchscreens. Now voice and vision are emerging as the next wave. With continued developments in artificial intelligence (AI), natural interfaces based on touch, voice, and vision are poised to become the primary ways that we interact with devices. New products and markets have been driven by innovators who capitalized on new human-technology interaction paradigms. A driving force in the widespread proliferation of personal computers was the advent of the mouse and keyboard, and modern smartphones were largely made possible because of touch interfaces, among other key enabling technologies, including flat-panel displays. Now virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) devices are emerging, benefiting from computer vision innovations in inside-out tracking and natural gesture control interfaces. The significance of this continuing transformation for the industry that SID serves cannot be overstated. It's no longer about just designing and manufacturing a display screen that shows information. The entire system must be considered together—from vision, voice, and touch sensors that see, hear, and feel human inputs, to AI algorithms that understand human intention and enable the system to respond through the display. Engineers must understand the entire information flow and architect integrated systems from sensors to displays. The value that SID provides to our members is in supporting them in delivering greater value to their customers, so we owe it to them to expand our focus to encompass end-to-end imaging and vision technologies. I explained this drive to “redefine the ‘I’ in SID” in the last issue of Information Display (ID). With that as a backdrop, I would like to share some highlights of the Display Week 2023 program. Display Week is well known for its expansive exhibition and international symposium, and this year is no exception. The International Technical Symposium will feature top scientists, researchers, and academics with presentations and hundreds of papers from around the world. Special topics include AR/MR/VR, machine learning, and outdoor displays, as well as sensors integration and multifunctional displays—a new topic for 2023 in line with our expanding focus. We also are debuting the SID Imaging and Vision Special Event with speakers from organizations such as Meta, Microsoft, Sony, UCLA, HKU, and OpenCV. The event will focus on advances in image sensing, computer graphics, AI-aided computer vision, and machine learning techniques that enable new intelligent and interactive systems and applications. On the exhibition floor, the largest display and imaging companies will demonstrate advances in AR/VR, OLED, microLED, miniLED, LCD, quantum dots, automobile technology, wearables, digital signage, ePaper, vision sensors, and more. In the Innovation Zone (I-Zone), attendees can see prototypes and pre-market products from small companies, startups, and research organizations. An amazing part of Display Week is how it honors people who have made significant contributions to the industry. The 2023 Honors and Awards will be presented to a select group of innovators who have furthered research, pushed the boundaries of discovery, and improved technology. To read more about the prizes and honorees, see the March/April 2023 issue of ID. Other special events and programs include the SID/DSCC Business Conference, CEO Forum, Women in Tech event, Young Leadership Conference, SID Job Fair, and much more. There is something for everyone in the ecosystem. Looking to the next 60 years, SID will continue to evolve as the world evolves, and Display Week will continue to be the place to experience the latest innovations in electronic displays and imaging technologies. We're excited to bring these important developments to our community. Please reach out with ideas and comments to [email protected]. I hope to see you at Display Week! Achin Bhowmik is the president of the Society for Information Display. He can be reached at [email protected].