Stereo-Based Environment Scanning for Immersive Telepresence

The processing power and network bandwidth required for true immersive telepresence applications are only now beginning to be available. We draw from our experience developing stereo based tele-immersion prototypes to present the main issues arising when building these systems. Tele-immersion is a new medium that enables a user to share a virtual space with remote participants. The user is immersed in a rendered three-dimensional (3-D) world that is transmitted from a remote site. To acquire this 3-D description, we apply binocular and trinocular stereo techniques which provide a view-independent scene description. Slow processing cycles or long network latencies interfere with the users\u27 ability to communicate, so the dense stereo range data must be computed and transmitted at high frame rates. Moreover, reconstructed 3-D views of the remote scene must be as accurate as possible to achieve a sense of presence. We address both issues of speed and accuracy using a variety of techniques including the power of supercomputing clusters and a method for combining motion and stereo in order to increase speed and robustness. We present the latest prototype acquiring a room-size environment in real time using a supercomputing cluster, and we discuss its strengths and current weaknesses

A framework for realistic 3D tele-immersion

Meeting, socializing and conversing online with a group of people using teleconferencing systems is still quite differ- ent from the experience of meeting face to face. We are abruptly aware that we are online and that the people we are engaging with are not in close proximity. Analogous to how talking on the telephone does not replicate the experi- ence of talking in person. Several causes for these differences have been identified and we propose inspiring and innova- tive solutions to these hurdles in attempt to provide a more realistic, believable and engaging online conversational expe- rience. We present the distributed and scalable framework REVERIE that provides a balanced mix of these solutions. Applications build on top of the REVERIE framework will be able to provide interactive, immersive, photo-realistic ex- periences to a multitude of users that for them will feel much more similar to having face to face meetings than the expe- rience offered by conventional teleconferencing systems

Viewfinder: final activity report

The VIEW-FINDER project (2006-2009) is an 'Advanced Robotics' project that seeks to apply a semi-autonomous robotic system to inspect ground safety in the event of a fire. Its primary aim is to gather data (visual and chemical) in order to assist rescue personnel. A base station combines the gathered information with information retrieved from off-site sources. The project addresses key issues related to map building and reconstruction, interfacing local command information with external sources, human-robot interfaces and semi-autonomous robot navigation. The VIEW-FINDER system is a semi-autonomous; the individual robot-sensors operate autonomously within the limits of the task assigned to them, that is, they will autonomously navigate through and inspect an area. Human operators monitor their operations and send high level task requests as well as low level commands through the interface to any nodes in the entire system. The human interface has to ensure the human supervisor and human interveners are provided a reduced but good and relevant overview of the ground and the robots and human rescue workers therein

Earth orbital teleoperator system man-machine interface evaluation

The teleoperator system man-machine interface evaluation develops and implements a program to determine human performance requirements in teleoperator systems

Media Under French Competition Law

This Article discusses the Conseil de la Concurrence ( Conseil ), established by the December 1986 Ordinance on the Freedom of Prices and Competition. It provides an examination of the case law on media competition issues in France and suggests that such issues raise complex questions and that great caution must be exercised when applying competition law in this sector

Intelligent multi-sensor integrations

Growth in the intelligence of space systems requires the use and integration of data from multiple sensors. Generic tools are being developed for extracting and integrating information obtained from multiple sources. The full spectrum is addressed for issues ranging from data acquisition, to characterization of sensor data, to adaptive systems for utilizing the data. In particular, there are three major aspects to the project, multisensor processing, an adaptive approach to object recognition, and distributed sensor system integration