VSS Conference 2006

The official VIU Lab condo, located about 20 minutes from the conference center in Siesta Key. We’ve had the fortune of staying in the exact same condo two years in a row. Whether this was due to a lack of learning or mild amnesia on the behalf of the owners is left an outstanding question.

A view from our screened porch of a solitary bird roaming the tranquil sea. Interestingly, upon returning the next year the rocks you see were completely removed and the beach had been expanded a good 200 feet out.

The condo is bordered on the backside by a quaint harbor and palm trees, displaying classic Floridian style.

VIU graduate student Wade Schoonveld and graduate student Jocelyn Sy, who works in the lab of Barry Giesbrecht, make their way to a poster session.

The always bustling poster room at the Hilton.

Jocelyn explains her poster to our own entranced Craig Abbey.

While Craig may have looked somewhat puzzled early on in the presentation, Wade seems to have gotten into the flow of things as Jocelyn hones her delivery.

Meanwhile, Miguel asks Barry Giesbrecht some obviously profound questions regarding the attentional blink.

Apparently having conquered Jocelyn’s study, Craig explains the subtle nuances to an engaged Wade and our own postdoctoral researcher, Jason Droll.

Conferences are, if nothing else, a ripe opportunity to catch up with old friends and colleagues. Here, Miguel discusses some amusing points of eye movements in natural scenes with Wilson Geisler.

Outside the poster session, the meet-and-greets grow to dominate the social atmosphere. Miguel talks with the always entertaining Stan Klein.

The frenzied life of academia has the unfortunate side-effect of limiting contact with valued peers. Miguel and good friend Zoë Kourtzi are able to catch up on old times. At the 2007 VSS conference Zoë received the well-deserved inaugural Young Investigator Award.

Wade and Miguel take a break to pose for the camera.

Old and new alike have important contributions to make to the scientific community. Here, Bosco Tjan from USC, Craig and Miguel congratulate a true pioneer and legend of the vision community, Art Burgess. This would be Art’s last official visit to the VSS conference, and the VIU Lab took special care to commemorate his rich body of work.

Warning: Don’t try this at home. While fitting four people into the back of a cramped rental car may seem less than optimal, we pride ourselves on absolute efficiency. Graduate student Matt Peterson, Craig, Wade and Jocelyn get up-close and personal while Barry attempts to avoid deadly collisions.

At the end of the long, non-stop day relaxation is the imperative. Jocelyn and Miguel show how to do it.

However, nobody relaxes and styles quite like Matt.

And apparently some people didn’t get the message. Diligent as they come, Craig ponders the schedule for the next day’s activities.

Bliss. That is the essence of the VIU Lab. Jason shows what it truly means to be a part of our (not so) humble group.