P3-18 Real-Time FreeViewpoint Rendering System forFace-to-face VideoConference
Chia-Ho Pan, Sheng‐Chieh Huang, Yu-Lin Chang, Chung-Jr Lian · 2008
Face-to-face communication experience playsan important role invideoconference applications. Inthis paper, we propose viewanglerectification andviewsynthesis methods to generate thepreferred viewatobserver's side. Theproposed free viewpoint rendering system achieves face-to-face communication experience forreal-time videoconference application. I.INTRODUCTION Videoconference isdeveloped bytheresearchers foralong time. Asthenewdevices andnewtechnologies ofmultimedia coding andtransmission areimproved, therelative products ofthisapplication haveincreased rapidly. Face-to-face communication isthefirst andessential steptocreate a convincing impression forthis kindofapplication. Butthe lackofthenatural ofpersonal communication affects the growth ofvideoconference product. Mostexisted systems useafixed camera location tocapture theimages atspeaker's side. Thesevideoconferencing equipments doesnotsupport natural mutual gazeexperience because oftheangular disparity between thecamera mounted ontopofthemonitor andthelocation ofthefacial image on thescreen. Whenthespeaker looks attheobserver's eyeson thescreen, theobserver gets theimpression that thespeaker is looking down. Thisisduetothedisplacement between camera andthefacial image. Onlywhenthespeaker looks atthe camera, itappears totheobserver that they arelooking each other. Butinthis case, thespeaker cannotknowwhether the observer islooking athimornot.Thiscausetheunnatural using experience inmostexisted systems forvideoconference applications. Several workshavebeenproposed toovercome these limitations (1)-(2). Mostprevious worksfocus ontheangular deviation whentheconference windowislocated ata predefined location onthescreen. Theline ofvision shownin conference windowisrectified according totherelationship between thelocation ofthepredefined conference windowand thecamera. Butitisrectified regardless oftheconference windowlocation at observer's sidein conventional videoconference systems. However, theangular deviation of theface-to-face communication depends ontherelationship between thecameralocation, theobserver's eyesatspeaker's side, andthelocation ofconference windowonthescreen at observer's side. Forcurrent videoconference application, theuseropens