Eureka moments.(Editor's note)(Editorial)

If there's one question we get from new readers and Web site visitors more than any other, it is something along the following lines: "I want to get into the computer graphics industry. What kind of skills do I need?"

The advice we give is the same, whether a person wants to break in as an artist, animator, or product developer. And that's because what executives have told us they are looking for is similar, no matter which area of the industry they represent.

Indeed, what we've been hearing for the past few years is that to be successful, people can no longer afford to be one-dimensional. Not only must potential employees have familiarity with the broad, horizontal spectrum of the art and science of visual computing, they also must have deep, vertical expertise in one particular area.

But now, even being two-dimensional may no longer be enough to ensure success. Given the complexity of next-generation projects and the multidisciplinary work groups arising to tackle them, employees must possess a third dimension of abilities, namely the communication skills to effectively share specialized information with their colleagues.

This point was driven home by Stan Williams, director of quantum science research at Hewlett-Packard and one of the speakers at the Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT last month. In fact, Williams is depending on people with this unique mix of skills to help him fulfill his challenge of developing futuristic computer systems.

In terms of processing capabilities, current computers are roughly on the scale of a cockroach, says Williams. They're so extraordinarily crude, that given our present knowledge, we should be able to increase the efficiency of computers by a factor of one billion, he believes. "We should be able to build a handheld ...