CRCD/EI: Effective Distance Learning Through Sustained Interactivity and Visual Realism

0417458 Voicu PopescuPurdue大学“CRCD/EI：Effective Distance Learning Through Sustained Interactivity and Visual Realism”$539，999该项目结合了视觉、图像处理、机器人和计算机图形学的研究，创建了一个新颖的远程学习系统，使教师和远程学习者能够在课堂上感受到“存在感”。该项目涉及研究、开发、部署和评估一个远程学习系统，该系统扩展了真实的教室，以独特的方式容纳远程学生。该系统的有效性来自于向远程和本地参与者传达一种强烈的感觉，即远程参与者实际上存在于教室中。现场感是通过以下方式实现的：交互性-系统支持参与者之间的高带宽，低延迟，不间断和安全的通信;高质量的图形-系统通过将分段的高分辨率实时视频与预先下载的逼真的3D模型和演示材料相结合，提供对教室，教师，学生和讲座材料的逼真，视觉描述。托管远程学生的虚拟教室与真实的教室无缝集成。真实的教室被扩展以容纳远程学生。每个远程定位的学生被实时获取并集成在公共虚拟3D教室中，该教室被连续地渲染和投影在真实的教室的墙上。在本地站点，教师看到远程位置的学生，就好像他们是坐在教室后面的额外排的本地学生一样。虚拟教室的模型是照片级真实感的，其几何形状使教师能够轻松地看到远程参与者。在远程站点，学生使用个人计算机和具有快速接口宽带连接到互联网的数字摄像机参加讲座。PI预计，他们的系统将克服目前远程教育的许多缺点，包括：远程学生的图形表示不足;虚拟教室的整合不足;缺乏对远程学生个人的支持;缺乏对其他教育活动的支持;以及缺少或不充分的数字内容创建工具。

0417458Voicu PopescuPurdue University"CRCD/EI: Effective Distance Learning Through Sustained Interactivity and Visual Realism"$539,999This project combines research in vision, image processing, robotics, and computer graphics to create a novel distance learning system that enables instructors and remote learners to feel a "sense of presence" in the classroom. The project involves researching, developing, deploying and assessing a distance learning system that extends the real classroom to accommodate remotely located students in a unique way. The system's effectiveness comes from conveying a strong sense to both remote and local participants that the remote participants are actually present in the classroom. The sense of presence is enabled by: Interactivity -- the system supports high-bandwidth, low-latency, uninterrupted, and secure communications between the participants; High-quality graphics -- the system provides realistic, visual descriptions of the classroom, instructor, students, and of the lecture materials by combining segmented high-resolution real-time video with pre-downloaded photorealistic 3D models and presentation materials. The virtual classroom that hosts the remotely located students is seamlessly integrated with the real classroom. The real classroom is extended to accommodate remotely located students. Each remotely located student is acquired in real-time and integrated in a common virtual 3D classroom that is rendered and projected continually on a wall of the real classroom. At the local site, the instructor sees the remotely located students as if they were local students seated in additional rows at the back of the classroom. The model of the virtual classroom is photorealistic, with a geometry that allows the instructor to easily see the remote participants well. At the remote site students participate in the lecture using a personal computer and a digital video camera with a rapid interface broadband connection to the Internet. The PIs anticipate that their system will overcome many of the shortcomings of current distance education including: inadequate graphical representation of the remote students; inadequate integration of the virtual classroom; lack of support for individual remotely located students; lack of support of other educational activities; and missing or inadequate tools for digital content creation.