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The Vision and Graphics project is involved in capturing, processing, and displaying images in novel and useful ways. We are particularly interested in capturing images of people, and we have often displayed them at remote locations, for purposes like remote collaboration and virtual reality. We are also interested in applications like visualization, entertainment, and gaming.
We have developed techniques for image-based graphics (IBG), which uses photographs or video of a scene to render new views of the scene. IBG capitalizes on the tremendous detail that can be captured instantly and effortlessly with cameras. By rendering scenes to new viewpoints, our techniques can give a user the experience of being immersed in the scene, with the freedom to move through it at will. We used this capability to create a virtual reality experience for the Coliseum remote conferencing system. We have also developed IBG techniques to relight scenes, and have used these techniques to reveal details that could not be seen in the original photographs.
The Vision and Graphics team is interested in multi-camera systems and has developed hardware to stream synchronized video from many cameras into a computer. This capability was used in Coliseum and, more recently, in the FanCamera. The FanCamera is a virtual camera, constructed from many low cost imagers, that creates a single seamless image. Using an automated calibration process, FanCameras can be configured to have many useful features, like arbitrarily high resolution and unusual aspect ratios.
The team has also developed Panoply, a virtual display constructed from many commodity projectors. Like the FanCamera, Panoply can be configured for arbitrarily high resolution and unusual aspect ratios. For ease of installation, Panoply can be calibrated through an automated process to blend the multiple projector images into one seamless image. We typically use curved screens that surround users to create an immersive experience.
» Vision
& Graphics publications
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& Graphics demonstrations
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