Open Collections

Xia, Ziyi

University of British Columbia

The sudden pivot to remote communication triggered by COVID-19 has intensi- fied the need for advanced teleconferencing technologies that closely mimic phys- ical presence. Achieving direct eye contact, understanding physical context, and enabling coordinated non-verbal cues are essential for enriching virtual interac- tions. These prerequisites have led to increased interest in 3D teleconferencing tools that offer an immersive persona projection, enhancing the overall commu- nication experience. Current 3D experiences primarily rely on Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, utilizing Head-Mounted Dis- plays (HMDs), semi-transparent 2D displays, and standalone 3D devices. How- ever, evaluating the Quality of User Experience (QoE) in these immersive environ- ments poses significant challenges, as traditional subjective feedback and objective video quality evaluation methods fall short in addressing VR’s interactive nature. Our study addresses this gap by developing new QoE metrics for 3D teleconfer- encing, leveraging Fish Tank Virtual Reality (FTVR) to simulate presence using stereo and motion parallax depth cues. We report the Just Noticeable Difference (JND) for resolution, latency, jitter, and framerate as 50dpi, 50ms, 0.06mm, 18FPS, respectively, providing tangible thresholds for evaluating the performance and user experience of 3D teleconferencing tools. Moreover, we acknowledge the lack of accessible platforms for comprehensive, end-to-end tests in 3D teleconferencing. While proprietary systems such as Google’s Starline and Microsoft’s Holoportation show promise, their limited accessibility and high costs hinder broader research en- deavors. To rectify this, we have developed an open-source end-to-end platform, enabling researchers to perform comprehensive tests and integrate enhancements into the 3D teleconferencing pipeline.

Text

2023-09-26

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/86019

Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/