We are rapidly moving toward a world where personal networked video cameras are ubiquitous. Already, camera-equipped cell phones are becoming commonplace. Imagine being able to tap into all of these live video feeds to remotely explore the world in real-time. We introduce RealityFlythrough, a telepresence system that makes this vision possible. By situating live 2d video feeds in a 3d model of the world, RealityFlythrough allows any space to be explored remotely. No special cameras, tripods, rigs, scaffolding, or lighting is required to create the model, and no lengthy preprocessing of images is necessary. Rather than try to achieve photorealism at every point in space, we instead focus on providing the user with a sense of how the video streams relate to one another spatially. By providing cues in the form of dynamic transitions, we can approximate photorealistic telepresence while harnessing cameras ▒in the wild.▒ This paper describes the RealityFlythrough system, and reports on a live flythrough experience. We find that telepresence can work in the wild using only commodity hardware and off-the-shelf software, and that imperfect transitions are sensible and provide a compelling user experience.

Pre-2018 CSE ID: CS2005-0814

Realityflythrough is a telepresence/tele-reality system that works in the dynamic, uncalibrated environments typically associated with ubiquitous computing. By opportunistically harnessing networked mobile video cameras, it allows a user to remotely and immersively explore a physical space. This paper describes the architecture of the system, motivated by the real-time and dynamic requirements imposed by one application domain: SWAT team command and control support. RealityFlythrough is analogous to an operating system in that it provides abstractions to the user that hide inherent limitations in the underlying system. Just as an operating system provides the illusion of infinite processors and infinite memory, RealityFlythrough provides the illusion of complete live camera coverage in a physical environment.

Pre-2018 CSE ID: CS2005-0813

The emergence of personal mobile computing and ubiquitous wireless networks enables powerful field applications of video streaming, such as vision-enabled command centers for hazardous materials response. However, experience has repeatedly demonstrated both the fragility of the wireless networks and the insatiable demand for higher resolution and more video streams. In the wild, even the best streaming video mechanisms result in low-resolution, low-frame-rate video, in part because the motion of first-person mobile video (e.g., via a head-mounted camera) decimates temporal (inter-frame) compression. We introduce a visualization technique for displaying low-bit-rate first-person video that maintains the benefits of high resolution, while minimizing the problems typically associated with low frame rates. This technique has the unexpected benefit of eliminating the ``Blaire Witch Project'' effect -- the nausea-inducing jumpiness typical of first-person video. We explore the features and benefits of the technique through both a field study involving hazardous waste disposal and a lab study of side-by-side comparisons with alternate methods. The technique was praised as a possible command center tool, and some of the participants in the lab study preferred our low-bitrate encoding technique to the full-frame, high resolution video that was used as a control.

Pre-2018 CSE ID: CS2006-0855