An Immersive Bidirectional System for Life-size 3D Communication
C. Pluess (Kuster), N. Ranieri, J.C. Bazin, T. Martin, P.Y. Laffont, T. Popa, M. Gross
Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents (CASA) (Geneva, Switzerland, May 23-25, 2016), pp. 89-96
Abstract
Telecommunication and video conferencing are an integral part of modern society with implications in many aspects of everyday life. However, compared to a meeting in person, the sense of presence is still limited in electronic communication. In this paper, we present a novel system for life-size 3D telecommunication. It is designed to create an immersive user experience by seamlessly embedding a remote conversation partner into the local environment. To achieve this, users are captured in 3D by hybrid (color+depth) sensors and displayed on a life-size transparent 3D display. We have built two instances of this system in Zurich and Singapore. They form a complete and fully functional prototype enabling bidirectional communication in real-time over a long distance. We further demonstrate alternative hardware setups, which make our system flexible and adaptable to different usage scenarios.
