"We try to touch on everyone's area of study in vision research, from brain and visual-motor plasticity to computer models and robotics," says 91亚色 psychology Professor Jennifer Steeves (right).

The conference will take place June 15 to 18 in the Computer Science & Engineering Building (CSEB), Keele campus. Registration will take place in the CSEB lobby and speaker presentations will be held in CSEB Lecture Hall C. It is hosted by 91亚色's in the .

One of the speakers, professor of biological sciences and neuroscience of Mt. Holyoke College, will discuss her own experiences and research with the extent of the brain's plasticity. At one time it was believed that the brain was only malleable during a "critical period" in early childhood, but then, at the age of 48, Barry overcame the stereoblindness she'd had since infancy through optometric vision therapy. She realized at that point there was no absolute "critical period" and that the brain could change and adapt well into adulthood.

Left: Susan Barry

Barry will review the natural history of infantile esotropia聽鈥� where one or both eyes turn in 鈥� demonstrate several rehabilitation procedures that promote stereovision and describe possible mechanisms for wiring changes in the brain. She is the author of Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist's Journey into Seeing in Three Dimensions (2009).

Professor of the University of California, San Francisco, will discuss brain plasticity across the human lifespan and how all plasticity mechanisms are, by their fundamental nature, reversible. A large body of behavioural, electrophysiological and neuroimaging studies have documented the progressive neurological changes that arise as a function of normal aging and as expressions of chronic neurological and psychiatric diseases.

"I shall argue that a number of these illnesses represent failure modes of our self-organizing neurological machinery," says Merzenich. These studies of the neurological distortions recorded in patient populations provide "roadmaps" for potentially addressing plasticity-induced changes therapeutically. "I shall illustrate this therapeutic potential by discussing our early progress in developing treatments designed to prevent and/or ameliorate the expressions of chronic neurological and psychiatric illness."

Professor (right) of Georgetown University will present his talk on "Functional Specialization in the Visual Cortex of the Blind", which looks at how the modules in the brain responsible for sight retain their functional specialization in people blind from birth. The difference is that these modules are "hijacked" by input from a non-visual modality, such as audition or touch.

Professor of the University of Montreal will discuss "Cross-Modal Plasticity in Blind and Deaf Subjects: Results on Cortical Reorganization and Performance Do Not Seem to Always Point in the Same Direction".

Left: Franco Lepore

"Numerous results obtained in our laboratory on blind individuals consistently indicate that when tested on behavioural tasks, such as tone discrimination, sound localization in far and near space, navigation on a tactile labyrinth or in angle discrimination, they generally outperform the sighted," says Lepore. "At the cortical level, it appears that this supra-performance rests on the recruitment of visual areas." However, the same does not seem to hold true for deaf individuals, who show somewhat poorer visual abilities for even low-level functions.

Registration information, including a compete and abstracts, is available online. For more information or to download the conference program, visit the website or contact Teresa Manini, Centre for Vision Research administrative assistant, at manini@cvr.yorku.ca.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The , a one-of-a-kind gathering of experts in stereoscopic 3D art and entertainment, takes place in Toronto June 11 to 14. Major figures from the USA, UK, Russia, Germany and Canada will convene at TIFF Bell Lightbox to address and analyze the latest developments in the field.

Speakers include renowned German director , Irish director and U2 stage designer , , co-founder of IMAX and leading international film historian .聽 Minister , will deliver remarks.

The Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference is organized by the (3D FLIC) and researchers from 91亚色, including the . Bridging academia and industry, the event is designed to create dynamic synergies to funnel cutting-edge research into 3D production and best practices, to continue to improve the stereo 3D experience and respond to the growing audience appetite for 3D entertainment across all platforms.

Saturday, June 11
What: 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Official opening night of the Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference

When: 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 5pm (Please arrive 1 hour early for sound feed)

Where:聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Cinema 2, TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto

Remarks:

• Juana Awad, 3D FLIC Project Director
• , Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Fine Arts, 91亚色
• James Weyman, Manager of Industry Initiatives, Ontario Media Development Corporation
• Awad introduces Ali Kazimi, Faculty of Fine Arts, 91亚色
• Kazimi presents German filmmaker and keynote speaker Wim Wenders

5:30pm Keynote address by Wim Wenders, titled 鈥淥n PINA鈥�

Sunday, June 12
What: 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference, remarks by Honourable聽 Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism & Culture.

When: 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 10am (Please arrive 1 hour early for sound feed)

Where:聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Cinema 2, TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, Toronto

Remarks:

• Juana Awad, 3D FLIC Project Director
• Nell Tenhaaf, Professor of Visual Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, 91亚色
• Honourable Michael Chan, Ontario Minister of Tourism & Culture
• Tenhaaf introduces Bill White, partner, 3D Camera Company

10:30am Mini Keynote Canada鈥檚 lead on the Stereoscopic 3D World Stage

• Dr. Paul Salvini (CTO Side FX Software)
• Dr. Kevin Tuer (MD Canadian Digital Media Network)

For more details, see and a previous .

Artistic Direction and Organization Juana Awad, 3D FLIC Project Director 91亚色; Professor Janine Marchessault, Canada Research Chair in Art, Digital Media and Globalization, 91亚色; and Sanja Obradovic, PHD Candidate Communication and Culture, Ryerson University/91亚色.

By Amy Stewart, publicist, Faculty of Fine Arts

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The first of its kind in Canada, the Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference is organized by the 3D Film Innovation Consortium (3D FLIC), and researchers from 91亚色.

See the for start times, remarks and speakers.

Bridging academia and industry, the event is designed to create dynamic synergies to funnel cutting-edge research into 3D production and best practices, to continue to improve the stereo 3D experience and respond to the growing audience appetite for 3D entertainment across all platforms.

The conference will offer film and TV production companies, 3D practitioners and enthusiasts the opportunity for far-ranging discussions about contemporary challenges and possibilities in stereoscopic 3D. It will feature keynotes, panel discussions and presentations, with screenings and master classes rounding out the program.

Keynote presenters include renowned German director , who will discuss the creation of his 3D documentary , about the influential choreographer Pina Bausch; Irish director and stage designer Catherine Owen, who will share her experiences co-directing U23D, the first film shot in digital 3D; Graeme Ferguson, co-founder of IMAX and one of the filmmakers behinds some of its most successful films, and Thomas Elsaesser, renowned international film historian.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaB5Nc0XNOY&feature=player_embedded

The live-action nature drama Bugs, the science-fiction action blockbuster and , the IMAX exploration of the profound impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on the way we view the universe, will all be screened and聽introduced by their producers.

Panels include Stereography and Cinematography, Producing and Directing Stereo 3D, Expanding the Tool Set: Post-production and visual effects, Shooting for Conversion, Stereoscopic Perception and Cinema, History of Experiments in 3D Film and Photography, and many more.

All panels, presentations, keynotes and screenings will be held at the 350-seat 3D-capable cinema at TIFF Bell Lightbox, giving all speakers the possibility to show footage during their presentations.

The Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference runs immediately prior to , June 15聽to 19, allowing for synergies and exchanges between the two international events.

The conference is produced and presented by 3D FLIC and 91亚色.聽Presenting partners: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Graphics Animation and New Media (GRAND) NCE, Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC). Supporting partners: City of Toronto, Canadian Digital Media Network, Goethe Institute Toronto, IMAX, Cinespace Film Studios, 3D Camera Company, Creative Post, Studio SysAdmin and Geneva Films. Additional support from: FilmOntario and Computer Animation Studios of Ontario (CASO). Master classes co-presented by TIFF Bell Lightbox.

A full聽conference pass is $180. Passes for students and seniors are聽$60. A day pass is $75, with student and senior聽day passes priced at $25.聽Tickets for the Wim Wenders master class are $25 each, and $15 for聽students and seniors. Tickets for other master classes are $15 each, with students and seniors tickets priced at $10 per class.

Information and conference registration forms can be found on the website.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Two 91亚色-led industry-academic partnerships have received a total of $1,237,136 through the 's (NSERC) Strategic Projects Grants program.

Sergey Krylov, professor in the Faculty of Science聽& Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Bioanalytical Chemistry, has received $773,200 over three years to explore new therapies to treat metastatic cancers聽鈥� secondary tumors that originate from a malignant primary tumor and subsequently invade different organs.

Right: Sergey Krylov

Laurie Wilcox, associate professor in the Faculty of Health鈥檚 Department of Psychology, is co-principal investigator on Depth in Motion with Ali Kazimi, associate professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts鈥� Department of Film. Theirs will be the first research project to rigorously assess human responses to moving content in stereoscopic 3D film (S3D), while challenging current practices and intuitions filmmakers have garnered through 2D and static 3D experience. The grant is provided through a collaborative initiative between NSERC and the ; NSERC has provided $286,836 while the Canada Council has provided $177,100 for a cumulative three-year total of $463,936.

Left: Laurie Wilcox

Krylov has partnered with , whose Canadian offices are based in Concord, Ontario, to create personalized diagnoses and therapy monitoring for metastatic cancers. Current difficulties in detecting and eradicating these tumors significantly contribute to cancer mortality rates; therapies that are efficient for one patient often do not work for others. Their research uses "aptamers"聽鈥� short DNA strands capable of selectively binding molecules on cell surfaces聽 to serve as tracers for metastatic cancer tumors and, potentially, as vehicles to deliver drugs to metastatic cells.

Wilcox and Kazimi will collaborate with , associate professor in the Faculty of Science & Engineering鈥檚 Department of Computer Science & Engineering and member of the , to create an independent S3D film installation based on a piece of dance choreography and presented in both a large-scale S3D projection format and on multiple S3D displays. Audience members will move through a gallery space and choose to view the large-scale screen or one of the alternative displays containing different motion in depth sequences. The project will evaluate movement鈥檚 effect through depth on observer preferences, determine if these preferences are contingent on the nature of the movement, and determine if pacing differences exist between 2D and S3D film content.

Right: Ali Kazemi

Jim Mirkopolos, vice-president of operations for Toronto-based , is the project鈥檚 industry collaborator; Cinespace's Kleinburg studios are providing space to set up and test the installation later in the project.

鈥淭hese projects build on 91亚色鈥檚 expanding expertise in digital media and life science research, and our value-added industry-academic partnerships,鈥� said Stan Shapson, vice-president Research & Innovation. 鈥淒epth in Motion is a natural next step in the 3D film research 91亚色 began through the in partnership with Toronto-based industry leaders, and demonstrates the innovation unleashed when the creative arts and science converge. Professor Krylov鈥檚 work with in 91亚色 Region has a six-year history that involves two past successful collaborations and will further contribute 91亚色鈥檚 scientific expertise to the region鈥檚 growing and vibrant biotech sector.鈥�

91亚色鈥檚 projects were among 120 chosen to receive a total of $55 million in funding under聽NSERC鈥檚 Strategic Project Grants program, which aims to turn the results of academic research into real benefits for Canadians.

The announcement was made by聽Gary Goodyear, minister of state (Science聽& Technology) in Waterloo, Ontario. 鈥淪upporting science and research is critical to Canada鈥檚 future economic growth,鈥� said Goodyear. 鈥淭his investment will bring together 100 teams of some of the world鈥檚 top researchers to work with industry on promising new projects that will help strengthen our economy, create jobs and bring other benefits to communities.鈥�

鈥淭hese Strategic Project Grants show that the NSERC community has risen to the challenge and is putting the federal S&T strategy to work,鈥� said NSERC President Suzanne Fortier. 鈥淲e received a high number of quality submissions, and the peer review committees were impressed with the research teams鈥� excellence, their proposals鈥� importance and potential impact, and the strong support from partners.鈥�

For a complete list of NSERC recipients, visit the website.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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Stewart is in the first wave of people with a great deal of experience filming in 3-D and is very busy shooting concerts, commercials and more. At an industry panel on 3-D at TIFF, he implored independent filmmakers, especially of documentaries, to pitch content-hungry networks like Discovery. However, his biggest concern with 3-D is keeping the quality up.

鈥淢y biggest concern is the production of very bad 3-D and it will be coming . . . whenever a film comes out and it doesn't look great, it's not good for the whole industry.鈥� he says. 鈥淧eople who don't know how to produce it properly are going to start shooting 3-D. The indie film world is going to start shooting 3-D, but they need to understand how to produce proper 3-D so it doesn't hurt people's eyes.鈥�

Ali Kazimi echoes that thought. A filmmaker and film professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Fine Arts, he is part of a Toronto-based group called , which teams filmmakers and vision scientists to study the technology and its effects. 3-D requires a new visual grammar that filmmakers are learning and still working out. He says the organization鈥檚 work has shown that human brains process a 3-D image completely differently than 2-D.

鈥淲ith 3-D you actually have the responsibility of the comfort and, to a degree, the well-being of your audience as well,鈥� he says. 鈥淭o shoot 3-D really requires a fundamental understanding of stereoscopic depth perception, and how the human brain works mechanically and optically. If you don鈥檛 have that then you鈥檒l get bad 3-D,鈥� causing many problems such as eye strain, nausea and headaches.

One good reason to want it to succeed is that Toronto is poised to be an important centre for 3-D production. The is funding 3D FLIC and local businesses like Brash 3-D Studios, the 3-D Camera Company and Spatial View (whose a glasses-free 3-D approach has already yielded an iPhone product and an iPad prototype) are doing well and hoping to cash in as 3-D acceptance continues to grow.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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But while moviegoers have flocked to recent 3-D offerings, film fans also have had mixed reviews about their experiences, with some reporting headaches, nausea, vision problems and motion sickness. With 3-D leaping to the small screen, clinical researchers and tech experts want to know whether the special effect might damage eyes in the process.

鈥淭he problem with 3-D displays is that unlike the real world, only a subset of the information that normally informs us about the 3-D structure of the world is present,鈥� said , a computer science professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Science & Engineering who specializes in 3-D vision and technology.

And processing that incomplete visual information does, in fact, impact our eyes.

Better technology is alleviating the problem.

Allison also noted that recent 3-D movies have gotten better at reducing eye strain by mimicking our natural stereoscopic vision. 鈥淧eople are becoming less gimmick-oriented in terms of 3-D content,鈥� Allison explained. 鈥淭here鈥檚 more emphasis on a comfortable viewing experience where stereopsis enriches the experience rather than defining it, and recent movies like Avatar or Up have been very easy on the eyes.鈥�

The complete article is . For more information about visit the project's website.

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