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Definition
Tele-Immersion is a new medium that enables a user to share a virtual space
with remote participants. The user is immersed in a 3D world that is transmitted
from a remote site. This medium for human interaction, enabled by digital technology,
approximates the illusion that a person is in the same physical space as others,
even though they may be thousands of miles distant. It combines the display and
interaction techniques of virtual reality with new computer-vision technologies.
Thus with the aid of this new technology, users at geographically distributed
sites can collaborate in real time in a shared, simulated, hybrid environment
submerging in one another's presence and feel as if they are sharing the same
physical space. It is the ultimate
synthesis of media technologies:
1.3D environment scanning,
2.projective
and display technologies,
3.tracking technologies,
4.audio technologies,
5.robotics and haptics, and powerful networking. The considerable requirements
for tele-immersion system, make it one of the most challenging net applications.
In a tele-immersive environment computers
recognize the presence and movements of individuals and objects, track those individuals
and images, and then permit them to be projected in realistic, multiple, geographically
distributed immersive environments on stereo-immersive surfaces. This requires
sampling and resynthesis of the physical environment as well as the users' faces
and bodies, which is a new challenge that will move the range of emerging technologies,
such as scene depth extraction and warp rendering, to the next level.
Tele-immersive
environments will therefore facilitate not only interaction between users themselves
but also between users and computer generated models and simulations. This will
require expanding the boundaries of computer vision, tracking, display, and rendering
technologies. As a result, all of this will enable users to achieve a compelling
experience and it will lay the groundwork for a higher degree of their inclusion
into the entire system
Tele-immersive systems have potential to significantly
change educational, scientific and manufacturing paradigms. They will show their
full strength in the systems where having 3D reconstructed 'real' objects coupled
with 3D virtual objects is crucial for the successful fulfillment of the tasks.
It may also be the case that some tasks would not be possible to complete without
having such combination of sensory information. There are several applications
that will profit from tele-immersive systems. Collaborative mechanical CAD applications
as well as different medical applications are two that will benefit significantly. Tele-immersion
may sound like conventional video conferencing. But it is much more. Where video
conferencing delivers flat images to a screen, tele-immersion recreates an entire
remote environment. Although not so, tele-immersion may seem like another kind
of virtual reality. Virtual reality allows people to move around in a pre-programmed
representation of a 3D environment, whereas tele-immersion is measuring the real
world and conveying the results to the sensory system.ultimate synthesis
of media technologies:
A tele-immersion telecubicle
is designed both to acquire a 3D model of the local user and environment for rendering
and interaction at remote sites, and to provide an immersive experience for the
local user via head tracking and stereoscopic display projected on large scale
view screens.
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