The Next Big Thing [Guest editors´ introduction]

This special issue features four new areas of expansion in computer graphics. These new approaches and applications come from recent research in human--computer interaction and computer vision. Each of these new areas is a "big thing" that computer graphics practitioners and researchers need to be aware of. Each area has emerged as the result of advanced technologies that have improved data acquisition--whether through devices that sense touch or imaging systems that produce output in multiple sharply defined wavelength bands.