Weimar Research on 3D-Telepresence Technologies Receives Best Paper Award in Florida
As a part of the European cooperation project VR Hyperspace, colleagues in the Department of Virtual Reality develop new technologies for the collaboration of user groups in different locations. Researchers introduced a milestone in this area at the renowned international conference IEEE Virtual Reality 2013 in Orlando, Florida.
The unique 3D-telepresence system at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar enables users to meet in virtual worlds and communicate with each other. The research project was given the coveted "Best Paper Award" for the best scientific contribution of the conference.
"With this technology, we're on the right path to the Holodeck", explained Computer Science and Media doctoral candidate Stephan Beck, one of the developers of the system. What was still science fiction in the legendary Star Trek series could soon become reality. The Weimar development is leading the way for communications systems of the future: friends and colleagues on the other side of the world will no longer just be available as before, but also virtually just as present – as realistic 3D video avatars. Virtual environment models as well as virtual and real objects can be jointly discussed as though all participants were in the same place. In addition to language and facial expression, all established forms of body language can be used for the first time. Above all, gestures proved in pilot studies to be especially relevant to effective communication.
Depth cameras in combination with video cameras capture all participants three-dimensionally and in real time. Their digital representations can be sent to every location in the world and represented as life-size 3D video avatars. In combination with the innovative multi-user 3D projection system of the Weimar Computer Science and Media program, totally new possibilities arise for communication between groups of people in different locations.
Publication:
Beck, S., Kunert, A., Kulik, A., Froehlich B.
Immersive Group-to-Group Telepresence (Best Paper Award)
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 19(4):616-25, March 2013 (Proceedings of IEEE Virtual Reality 2013, Orlando, Florida).
You can find more information about the research project on the department website:
http://www.uni-weimar.de/cms/medien/vr/research/display-systems/immersive-group-to-group-telepresence.html
You can contact Alexander Kulik, scientific colleague at the Department of Virtual Reality, under + 49 (0) 36 43/58 37,22 or per mail at alexander.kulik@uni-weimar.de.
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: Professur Systeme der Virtuellen Realität demonstriert einzigartiges 3D-Telepräsenzsystem
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