From Keynotes to Art Installations: Autodesk Research Sizzled at AU 24

AU 2024 was an unforgettable event, and our Autodesk Research teams played a significant role in making it a success. Take a moment to watch this video for a visual tour of Autodesk Research at AU 2024.

Keynote Inclusion

Senior executives featured Autodesk Research projects prominently in the general session keynotes on both days of the conference. Andrew Anagnost highlighted Project Bernini, an experimental proof-of-concept for generative AI 3D shape creation. This project represents a significant reimagination of how designers might use AI to explore more ideas during the conceptual design phase.

Another highlight was the Neural Motion Control prototype, research that is moving quickly toward commercialization. This innovative tool allows animators to direct a character’s actions using a few keyframes, machine learning, and a neural network. By maintaining the detailed control animators are accustomed to, this tool promises to save professionals significant time performing tedious work and increasing their capacity for more creative efforts. Evan Atherton, Senior Principal Research Scientist, provided a detailed session on Neural Motion Control, offering attendees a closer look.

The Autodesk AI Zone

AI was a central theme at this year’s AU, especially with the annual event’s first space dedicated entirely to AI. This theme was quite literally brought to life in a stunning art installation at the heart of the Autodesk AI Zone. The installation captivated attendees with its dynamic interplay of light and reflection and embodied the principles of generative AI, capturing and reflecting fragments of its environment in a transformative display.

Project Bernini also featured heavily in the Autodesk AI Zone with demos, overviews, and a collection of 3D prints, titled “64 Chairs” which are iterations of a chair generated by Bernini Generative AI (V1 and V2). The installation combined text, sketch, image, voxel, and point cloud prompts, to generate each model.

Research Presentations and Workshops

AU 2024 featured Autodesk Research presentations and workshops that showcased the breadth of our team’s AI-related work. Topics spanned projects in AI from the Research Residency Program, to using AI to “Make Anything,” to exploring health and human impact in modern design through AI. In addition to the public sessions, the team hosted invitation-only workshops focusing on sustainability and user experience. These sessions provided attendees with deeper insights into our research and invited them to participate in AI brainstorming sessions.

Check out the AU digital page to watch the keynotes, on-demand content, and more. And a big congrats to everyone in Autodesk Research for making AU 2024 another unforgettable event!