Immersive 3D video conferencing: challenges, concepts, and implementation
Peter Eisert · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2003
In this paper, a next generation 3-D video conferencing system is presented that provides immersive tele-presence and natural representation of all participants in a shared virtual meeting space. The system is based on the principle of a shared virtual table environment which guarantees correct eye contact and gesture reproduction and enhances the quality of human-centered communication. The virtual environment is modeled in MPEG-4 which also allows the seamless integration of explicit 3-D head models for a low-bandwidth connection to mobile users. In this case, facial expression and motion information is transmitted instead of video streams resulting in bit-rates of a few kbit/s per participant. Beside low bit-rates, the model-based approach enables new possibilities for image enhancements like digital make-up, digital dressing, or modification of scene lighting.