SBIR Phase I: Low latency and ultra high quality video streaming platform for highly immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是解决限制虚拟和增强现实在美国广泛采用的技术挑战。提出的解决方案可以实现或改进远程医疗应用、心理健康和健康社会支持计划、国防人员的现实培训模拟、劳动力发展培训和科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教学解决方案，以及其他受益于实时沉浸式体验的应用。当前的虚拟现实（VR）技术使用低质量的视频来实现实时交互，或者使用逼真的高质量视频，但由于高延迟问题而无法模拟实时交互。高质量的视频传输，低延迟（小于1秒）是这个项目的目标。这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在开发一种虚拟现实、图像渲染和流媒体解决方案，可以在低延迟的情况下管理超高质量的360度视频。技术上的挑战是克服视频质量和流媒体延迟之间的权衡。高质量的VR视频，比如360度高清视频，会有很高的延迟，渲染图像的速度非常慢。相比之下，低质量的视频具有低延迟（低于1秒），这意味着图像可以更快地渲染。这两种情况都限制了虚拟现实技术的沉浸性和感觉，因为视频质量不足和/或延迟使实时虚拟交互成为不可能。该SBIR项目将包括架构设计、低延迟产品开发研究以及原型测试和验证。该商业化产品可能使公司能够提供完全沉浸式的VR体验，从而实现更逼真的训练模拟、教育演示以及健康和心理健康的实时社交互动。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to address the technological challenges that limit the wide adoption of virtual and augmented reality in the United States. The proposed solution may enable or improve telemedicine applications, mental health and wellness social support programs, realistic training simulations for defense personnel, workforce development training and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching solutions, and other applications which benefit from real-time immersive experiences. Current virtual reality (VR) technology uses low-quality video in order to deliver real-time interactions or uses realistic high-quality video that cannot simulate real-time interactions due to high-latency issues. High quality video delivered with low latency (less than 1 second) is the goal of this project. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to develop a virtual reality, image rendering, streaming solution that can manage 360-degree video with ultra-high quality at low latencies. The technical challenges are to overcome the trade-off between video quality and streaming latency. High-quality VR video, such as 360-degree crisp video, would have high latency, rendering the images very slowly. In contrast, low-quality video has low-latency (below 1 second), which means that the images can be rendered much faster. Both cases limit the immersive nature and feel of virtual reality technology because the video quality is insufficient and/or the latency makes it impossible for live virtual interaction. This SBIR project will include architecture design, low latency product developmental research, and prototype testing and validation. The commercialized product may enable companies to offer a fully immersive VR experience leading to more realistic training simulations, educational demonstrations, and real-time, social interactions for health and mental well-being.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.