The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said today that 12 distinct scientific and technical investigations have been launched for the 2016 Sci-Tech Oscars, which will be held February 11. They are made public so individuals and companies with devices or claims of innovation within these areas will have the opportunity to submit achievements for review.

The deadline to submit additional entries is 5 PM PT August 30. The Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards Committee has started investigations into the following areas:

High-resolution digital motion picture cameras with sensors sized Super 35 or larger;

Recent advancements in motion control software;

Recent advancements in wireless microphone technology;

Computer-printed, seamless scenic backdrops;

Camera flange depth measurement devices;

Shading programming languages for production rendering;

Ray-tracing production renderers supporting physically-based shading and light transport;

Real-time, vector-based drawing tools for sketching and markup in film production;

Fast-reset bullet hit kits for live-action production;

On-set, real-time, principal camera tracking technology;

Electrodeless plasma arc lamps for motion picture lighting; and

Reconfigurable, rideable, life-size animatronic horses

The committee also will continue its investigation of rig-based solvers for tracking and animating deforming objects from image sequences, which it tabled in 2015. After thorough investigations are conducted in each of the technology categories, the committee will meet in early December to vote on recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors, which will make the final awards decisions.