Immersive 3D video conferencing. Challenges, concepts, and implementations

In this paper,next generation 3-D video conferencing system is presented that provides immersive tele- presence and natural representation of all participants in shared virtual meeting space.The system is based on the principle of shared virtual table environment which guarantees correct eye contact and gesture reproduction and enhances the quality of human-centered communication.The virtual environment is modeled in MPEG-4 which lso llows the seamless integr tion of explicit 3-D head models for low-bandwidth connection to mobile users.In this case,faci l expression and motion inform tion is transmitted instead of video streams resulting in bit-r tes of few kbit/s per participant.Beside low bit-r tes,the model-based ppro ch enables new possibilities for image enhancements like digital make-up,digital dressing,or modi .cation of scene lighting.