Server policies for interactive transmission of 3D scenes

We consider an interactive client-server application for remote browsing of 3D scenes. The information about texture and geometry is available at server side in the form of scalably compressed images and depthmaps, corresponding to a multitude of original image views. Image and depth components are both open to augmentation as more content becomes available. During the interactive browsing experience, the server allocates the available bandwidth between the delivery of new elements from the various original view bit-streams and new elements from the original geometry bit-streams. We propose a rate-distortion criterion to decide the best transmission policy for the server, since the best solution is not always to send the nearest original view image to the one which the client is rendering. We also outline how the JPIP standard for interactive transmission of JPEG2000 images can be exploited for remote exploration of 3D scenes.