Simulation of High-Visual Quality Scenes in Low-Cost Virtual Reality

With the increasing popularity of virtual reality, many video games and virtual experiences with high-visual quality have been developed recently. Virtual reality with a high-quality representation of scenes is still an experience linked to high-cost devices. There are currently low-cost virtual reality solutions by using mobile devices, but in those cases, the visual quality of the presented virtual environments must be simplified for running on mobile devices with limited hardware characteristics. In this work, we present a novel Image-Based Rendering technique for low-cost virtual reality. We have conducted a performance evaluation of three mobile devices with different hardware characteristics. Results show that our technique represents high-visual quality virtual environments with considerably better performance compared to traditional rendering solutions.Workshop: WCGIV – Computación Gráfica, Imágenes y VisualizaciónRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

3D Scene Geometry Estimation from 360∘^\circ Imagery: A Survey

This paper provides a comprehensive survey on pioneer and state-of-the-art 3D scene geometry estimation methodologies based on single, two, or multiple images captured under the omnidirectional optics. We first revisit the basic concepts of the spherical camera model, and review the most common acquisition technologies and representation formats suitable for omnidirectional (also called 360$^\circ$, spherical or panoramic) images and videos. We then survey monocular layout and depth inference approaches, highlighting the recent advances in learning-based solutions suited for spherical data. The classical stereo matching is then revised on the spherical domain, where methodologies for detecting and describing sparse and dense features become crucial. The stereo matching concepts are then extrapolated for multiple view camera setups, categorizing them among light fields, multi-view stereo, and structure from motion (or visual simultaneous localization and mapping). We also compile and discuss commonly adopted datasets and figures of merit indicated for each purpose and list recent results for completeness. We conclude this paper by pointing out current and future trends.Comment: Published in ACM Computing Survey