ITR: Collaborative Research: Development of Head-mounted Projective Display for Distance Collaborative Environments

这是为期三年的持续奖励的第一年资助。虚拟或增强环境的一个重要应用领域是多用户协作环境，其中本地站点或远程站点的多个用户相互通信，并与合成或虚拟场景进行交互。在必要的传感器和设备中，有效的可视化设备和实时图像采集系统是两个主要挑战。该项目的目标是开发一种称为头盔投影显示器(HMPD)的新型可视化设备，通过将开发的HMPD技术与称为全焦相机的独特实时图像获取系统相结合，建立一个多用户交互工作台，并对该系统作为远程协作的有效工具进行评估和量化。提出的头戴式投影显示器(HMPD)与柔软、无失真和耐用的投影表面相结合，作为现有可视化设备的替代方案。其新颖的概念为解决目前最先进的可视化设备的部分问题提供了解决方案，如大视场大变形，虚拟物体和真实物体之间的遮挡矛盾，以及亮度与背景照明的冲突。建议的HMPD的几个特性使其非常适合多用户协作应用。研究工作将致力于通过引入衍射光学元件(DOE)和塑料材料来设计和实现一种轻便紧凑的头盔原型，并研究优化显示器照明和用于成像目的的反向反射材料特性的方法。在一个地点，将使用HMPD概念并增加一个由独特的全焦相机系统开发的图像采集系统，从而建造一个具有远程呈现能力的多用户交互工作台原型。在另一个地点，壁画展示系统将与位于壁画展示附近的常规立体视频系统一起构建，一个或多个合作者也将聚集在那里。伊利诺伊大学贝克曼研究所--Urbana Champaign和佛罗里达大学光学学院-CREOL之间的远程协作工作将通过连接我们实验室的Internet II连接进行测试。最后，PI将量化深度和大小表示以及感知精度，评估遮挡感知方面，并为HMPD、工作台和壁画原型建立全面的校准程序。预计结果将影响广泛的应用，如协作/远程协作、远程呈现、远程操纵和可视化教育/远程教育。

This is the first year funding of a three-year continuing award. A demanding application area of virtual or augmented environment is multi-user collaborative environment where multiple users at either a local site or remote sites communicate with each other and interact with a synthetic or virtual scene. Among the necessary sensors and devices, an effective visualization device and a real-time image acquisition system are two main challenges. The objective of this project is to develop a novel visualization device referred to as head-mounted projective display (HMPD), build a multi-user interactive workbench by integrating the developed HMPD technology with a unique real-time image acquisition system known as an omni-focus camera, and evaluate and quantify the system as an effective tool for remote collaboration. The head-mounted projective display (HMPD) proposed is coupled with a supple, non-distorting and durable projection surface as an alternative to current visualization devices. Its novel concept suggests solutions to part of the problems of state-of-art visualization devices, such as large distortion with wide field of view, occlusion contradiction between virtual and real objects, and brightness conflict with background illumination. Several properties of the proposed HMPD make it extremely suitable for multiple-user collaborative applications. Research efforts will be made to design and implement a lightweight and compact head-mounted prototype by introducing diffractive optical element (DOE) and plastic materials, and investigate approaches to optimize the illumination of the display and retro-reflective material properties for imaging purpose. At one site, a multi-user interactive bench prototype with tele-presence capability will be built by using the HMPD concept and adding an image acquisition system developed from a unique omni-focus camera system. At the other site, a mural display system will be built with conventional stereoscopic video system located near the mural display, where one or several collaborators will also gather. Tele-collaborative work will be tested between the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois--Urbana Champaign and the School of Optics-CREOL at the University of Central Florida through the Internet II connection linking our laboratories. Finally, the PIs will quantify the depth and size representation and perception accuracy, evaluate occlusion perception aspects, and set up a comprehensive calibration procedure for the HMPD and the workbench and mural prototypes. The results are expected to impact a wide range of applications such as collaboration/tele-collaboration, tele-presence, tele-manipulation, and visualized education/tele-education.