Real-time streaming of point-based 3D video

Free-viewpoint video is a promising technology for next-generation virtual and augmented reality applications. Our goal is to enhance collaborative VR applications with 3D video-conferencing features. In this paper, we propose a 3D video streaming technique which can he deployed in telepresence environments. The streaming characteristics of real-time 3D video sequences are investigated under various system and networking conditions. We introduce several encoding techniques and analyze their behavior with respect to resolution, bandwidth and frame jitter. Our 3D video pipeline uses point samples as basic primitives and is fully integrated with a communication framework handling acknowledgment information for reliable network transmissions and application control data. The 3D video reconstruction process dynamically adapts to processing and networking bottle-necks. Our results show that a reliable transmission of our pixel-based differential prediction encoding leads to the best performance in terms of bandwidth, but is also quite sensitive to packet losses. A redundantly encoded stream achieves better results in presence of burst losses and seamlessly adapts to varying network throughput.