Personal Access Grid nodes for Immersive Collaboration

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Personal Access Grid nodes for Immersive
Collaboration

• Albert J. Hermann and Chris W. Moore (JISAO/PMEL)
• Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere
  and the Oceans,
• UW/NOAA/PMEL, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA
  98115
• Phyllis Stabeno (PMEL), Kate Hedstrom (ARSC)
• FY 2005 NOAA/HPCC funded project

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The Challenge

• Multi-disciplinary, multi-institution,
  collaborative science is the norm
• Travel is expensive (time/money/energy)
• How to communicate best without travel?
• Email w/ attachments -gt nice but slow
  conversation
• Instant Messaging -gt faster but still have to
  type
• Teleconference -gt fast conversation but limited
  information
• Videoconferencing -gt communicates facial content
  helps build a social connection. Harder to use
  and still feels artificial
• Stereo-immersive videoconference with shared
  content -gt more lifelike conversation and
  gestures. Can we find an easy, inexpensive way to
  implement this?

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One existing inexpensive approach dual
projectors with polarizing filters provide a
big-screen stereo immersive experience
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Immersion facilitates exploration of 3D model
results can it facilitate collaboration as well?
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Steps to a solution

• Find a simple, user-friendly videoconferencing
  tool
• Enable stereo!
• Multiple choices for software....

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1. The Access Grid

• A collection of open-source software and hardware
  for videoconferencing and sharing content among
  many individuals
• Impressive performance once installed, but can be
  pricey and labor-intensive
• Not for casual office use requires dedicated
  facility

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2. Personal Access Grid (PIG)

• Stripped-down version of AG for personal office
  use
• Use a simple webcam to join AG conferences
• Great when it works! However.
• Can be tricky to register/install/maintain,
  especially on Linux hosts
• Firewall issues

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3. Virtual Rooms Videoconferencing System (VRVS)

• Developed by the Physics community available to
  anyone
• Basically a Java version of the Personal Access
  Grid same audio/video tools at its core
• Painless registration and download of software
  easy learning curve
• Still some firewall issues (maybe better than AG
  on this)
• Web page and desktop sharing
• Simple USB webcams work fine multiple webcams
  are permitted -gt several options for stereo!

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Stereo issuessynchronization and rendering

• Initiall anticipated horrible synchronization
  between left/right cameras attempted left/rights
  views in a single frame using a beam splitter
• Several problems
• narrow video frame
• how to render stereo on the receiving end?

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Beam splitter attached to single camera allows
single frame to capture stereo view of
participant..
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..but this tends to limit the view
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A pair of identical USB cameras provide a wider
stereo view of the world in VRVS (maybe in AG
too) they stay synchronized! Allow us to
demonstrate
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Conclusion

• Immersive teleconferencing
• facilitates effective communication
• is possible on a modest budget!
• firewall issues remain
• More information and demos
• - Stereo techniques, hardware and software
• http//www.pmel.noaa.gov/hermann/vrml/stereo.htm
  l
• Immersive teleconferencing
• http//www.pmel.noaa.gov/hermann/agstereo.html