Anahita: A System for 3D Video Streaming with Depth Customization

Producing high-quality stereoscopic 3D content requires significantly more effort than preparing regular video footage. In order to assure good depth perception and visual comfort, 3D videos need to be carefully adjusted to specific viewing conditions before they are shown to viewers. While most stereoscopic 3D content is designed for viewing in movie theaters, where viewing conditions do not vary significantly, adapting the same content for viewing on home TV-sets, desktop displays, laptops, and mobile devices requires additional adjustments. To address this challenge, we propose a new system for 3D video streaming that provides automatic depth adjustments as one of its key features. Our system takes into account both the content and the display type in order to customize 3D videos and maximize their perceived quality. We propose a novel method for depth adjustment that is well-suited for videos of field sports such as soccer, football, and tennis. Our method is computationally efficient and it does not introduce any visual artifacts. We have implemented our 3D streaming system and conducted two user studies, which show: (i) adapting stereoscopic 3D videos for different displays is beneficial, and (ii) our proposed system can achieve up to 35% improvement in the perceived quality of the stereoscopic 3D content

Three-dimensional media for mobile devices

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper aims at providing an overview of the core technologies enabling the delivery of 3-D Media to next-generation mobile devices. To succeed in the design of the corresponding system, a profound knowledge about the human visual system and the visual cues that form the perception of depth, combined with understanding of the user requirements for designing user experience for mobile 3-D media, are required. These aspects are addressed first and related with the critical parts of the generic system within a novel user-centered research framework. Next-generation mobile devices are characterized through their portable 3-D displays, as those are considered critical for enabling a genuine 3-D experience on mobiles. Quality of 3-D content is emphasized as the most important factor for the adoption of the new technology. Quality is characterized through the most typical, 3-D-specific visual artifacts on portable 3-D displays and through subjective tests addressing the acceptance and satisfaction of different 3-D video representation, coding, and transmission methods. An emphasis is put on 3-D video broadcast over digital video broadcasting-handheld (DVB-H) in order to illustrate the importance of the joint source-channel optimization of 3-D video for its efficient compression and robust transmission over error-prone channels. The comparative results obtained identify the best coding and transmission approaches and enlighten the interaction between video quality and depth perception along with the influence of the context of media use. Finally, the paper speculates on the role and place of 3-D multimedia mobile devices in the future internet continuum involving the users in cocreation and refining of rich 3-D media content

Quality-controlled audio-visual depth in stereoscopic 3D media

BACKGROUND: The literature proposes several algorithms that produce “quality-controlled” stereoscopic depth in 3D films by limiting the stereoscopic depth to a defined depth budget. Like stereoscopic displays, spatial sound systems provide the listener with enhanced (auditory) depth cues, and are now commercially available in multiple forms. AIM: We investigate the implications of introducing auditory depth cues to quality-controlled 3D media, by asking: “Is it important to quality-control audio-visual depth by considering audio-visual interactions, when integrating stereoscopic display and spatial sound systems?” MOTIVATION: There are several reports in literature of such “audio-visual interactions”, in which visual and auditory perception influence each other. We seek to answer our research question by investigating whether these audio-visual interactions could extend the depth budget used in quality-controlled 3D media. METHOD/CONCLUSIONS: The related literature is reviewed before presenting four novel experiments that build upon each other’s conclusions. In the first experiment, we show that content created with a stereoscopic depth budget creates measurable positive changes in audiences’ attitude towards 3D films. These changes are repeatable for different locations, displays and content. In the second experiment we calibrate an audio-visual display system and use it to measure the minimum audible depth difference. Our data is used to formulate recommendations for content designers and systems engineers. These recommendations include the design of an auditory depth perception screening test. We then show that an auditory-visual stimulus with a nearer auditory depth is perceived as nearer. We measure the impact of this effect upon a relative depth judgement, and investigate how the impact varies with audio-visual depth separation. Finally, the size of the cross-modal bias in depth is measured, from which we conclude that sound does have the potential to extend the depth budget by a small, but perceivable, amount