Multi-Camera Capture Across Devices for Low-Cost 3D Telepresence
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing telepresence videoconferencing systems require expensive equipment and high bandwidth for transmitting high-quality, three-dimensional images, limiting their widespread use.
Innovation Solution
Utilize common electronic devices such as laptops and smartphones with cameras to capture images from different perspectives, with one device acting as a host to process and transmit image data to a telepresence videoconferencing system, employing keypoints, landmarks, and texture embeddings to simplify calibration and reduce data volume.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If expensive telepresence videoconferencing equipment is used to transmit high-quality three-dimensional images, then image quality is improved, but equipment cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses copies of images captured by multiple standard cameras to reconstruct a three-dimensional representation. Instead of requiring expensive specialized telepresence equipment, the system captures multiple two-dimensional images from different perspectives and synthesizes a 3D model, thereby reducing equipment costs while maintaining image quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system divides the image capture task across multiple separate camera devices positioned at different locations. Each camera captures a portion of the scene from its specific viewpoint, and these segmented views are later combined through processing to create the complete three-dimensional representation, eliminating the need for a single expensive multi-functional system.
2Measurement precision
If multiple cameras are arranged at different positions to capture three-dimensional images, then image quality is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs standard, universally available camera devices (such as smartphones or webcams) that can be easily positioned at different locations. These common devices perform multiple functions - capturing images from various perspectives, providing calibration data, and contributing to the 3D reconstruction - thereby reducing overall system complexity compared to specialized dedicated equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the captured images themselves to automatically determine the positions and orientations of the cameras through calibration processes. The images serve dual purposes: as the data to be processed and as the means to establish the geometric relationships between cameras, eliminating the need for complex external calibration equipment or manual positioning procedures.
3Measurement precision
If high-resolution images are transmitted to remote locations, then image quality is improved, but bandwidth requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential information needed for three-dimensional reconstruction from the captured images. Instead of transmitting complete high-resolution images, the system processes and transmits condensed data representations (such as keypoint coordinates, texture information, and geometric parameters) that contain the necessary structural data while significantly reducing the overall data volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms image data from its original high-resolution two-dimensional form into a compressed three-dimensional representation using mathematical parameters. By changing the data format from raw pixel arrays to parameterized 3D models (including vertex coordinates, face normals, and texture maps), the system maintains visual quality while reducing the quantity of data that needs to be transmitted over the network.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques include using a plurality of common electronic devices (e.g., laptops, tablet computers, smartphones, etc.) that have cameras to generate data for images at systems such as telepresence videoconferencing systems. For example, the devices having a camera can be situated with respect to a user to provide different perspectives. The cameras can capture images of the user from the different perspectives and generate image data based on the images. One of the devices can be designated as a host that receives the image data, processes the image data into frames, and transmits the frames to a telepresence videoconferencing system.