Objective The purpose of RESOLV is to produce a cost-effective system for creating realistic 3D models of the environment. These will enhance the sense of 'being there' for telepresence and virtual reality applications. The models will also be sufficiently accurate for real estate, construction and other industrial applications.Following completion of the Requirements and Specification reports, the prototype EST trolley has been assembled. The spatial reconstruction and texture algorithms have been integrated to produce textured scenes such as those shown here. The software has been transferred from the workstation development environment to the PC in the EST so that reconstruction can take place during the capture process.The navigation and registration algorithms for the Autonomous EST have been tested and these were demonstrated in early 1997. A high speed laser scanner has been evaluated and will be included in the Autonomous EST.Expected Achievements The output from the project will be a set of algorithms for producing 3D reconstructions of intended environments requiring the fusion of range data and texture information from many capture points.These algorithms will be implemented in two types of environmental capture device, one portable and the other autonomous. Technical results will include an assessment of which applications suit the RESOLV approach of integrating laser scanning with digital images.An assessment will be made of the nature of the markets for the overall methodology and a suitable exploitation path will be identified in the light of user responses to the interiors and telepresence trials.Expected Impact RESOLV is expected to be one of many catalysts in encouraging a universal move to more natural three dimensional user interfaces. The most obvious demand is for truly spatial activities such as building design. However there is increasing interest in providing familiar spatial contexts in which more abstract issues can be discussed.RESOLV will improve the usability of future multi-way multimedia services by providing the environmental realism needed to feel telepresent in remote locations. As such it will contribute to European competitiveness by lowering the cultural and psychological barriers to communication between people in different countries.Main contributions to the programme objectives:Main deliverablesBuilt and trialed a cost-effective system for realistic 3D visualisation, as applied in real-estate, construction and other industrial applications of telepresence and VRContribution to the programmeSupports the development of more effective and natural three dimensional user interfaces in practical industrial applicationsTechnical Approach A portable unit known as an EST (Environmental Sensor for Telepresence) is taken around the environment that is to be captured, The EST includes a scanning laser rangefinder for capturing the 3D structure of the surroundings and a video camera for adding the textures. The environment is scanned from a number of capture positions but the reconstructed model can be viewed from any position.Surfaces are recognised by processing the range data and are textured from the camera images. By combining what is seen from neighbouring capture positions, surfaces that would be occluded from one position are recorded.The EST travels from one capture position to another on a trolley or an autonomous vehicle. The environment is reconstructed as the EST progresses and each new position is registered with previous ones using key points in the surroundings. The partial reconstruction is used to determine future capture positions.The EST is optimised for human scale applications, It is not intended for detailed reconstruction of small objects or for capturing an external landscape. Both the trolley shown in the picture and the autonomous vehicle are designed to support capture at two heights - eye level when sitting and standing. The size of the unit is comparable to that of a person to ensure that it can be taken to all the places where people are likely to pause when looking around a building.The data is held in a form suitable for CAD systems and for viewing on a WWW browser. Stereo viewing is possible.Live video of people can be inserted into the reconstruction for telepresence applications. In this way remote parties can look around the people they are talking to as if they were all in the same location.RESOLV is related to products such as Quicktime VR from the Apple Corporation in creating a virtual copy of a real location.However the observer will have an enhanced sense of presence through being able to move freely within the reconstructed environment. The pictorial quality will be exceptionally good (equal to existing visual panorama systems) when the observer is near the environment capture point and will gracefully degrade in moving away from capture points.Summary of TrialsSocial Telepresence:An existing location will be captured in sufficient detail for viewing through a VRML viewer. Peoples bodies will then be identified from live video and inserted into the reconstruction. The video can include people who are actually at the location and others who are only telepresent. In this way it will be possible to support the illusion of all members of a distributed meeting being in the same place.The social telepresence trial will take place between project partners and between staff in factories addressing similar factory organisation and layout issues.Interiors Visualisation:Visualisation is becoming an essential tool for the construction industry. This is easy for new buildings for which a detailed CAD model exists. However reconstructing the dimensions and appearance of existing interiors can be a time-consuming and expensive process. This trial will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of capturing interiors for refurbishment, maintenance and facilities management applications.Key Issues The key technical issue is establishing how accurately the surroundings need to be scanned in order to produce a reconstruction of sufficient realism for telepresence and adequate accuracy for industrial applications. This will indicate the potential cost-effectiveness of the service and hence the size of the potential market.The credibility of the reconstruction is critically dependent on the performance of the 3D viewer. Dramatic performance increases for PC based 3D and graphics cards indicate that future mass market PCs will be able to view RESOLV reconstructions. Fields of science engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringautomotive engineeringautonomous vehiclessocial sciencesmedia and communicationsgraphic designengineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsoptical sensorsnatural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaresoftware applicationsvirtual realitynatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticslaser physics Programme(s) FP4-ACTS - Specific programme of research, technological development and demonstration in the area of advanced communications technologies and services, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 1 - Multimedia services Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator BICC plc EU contribution No data Address Quantum House Maylands Avenue HP2 4SJ Hemel Hempstead United Kingdom See on map Total cost No data Participants (5) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all INESC Portugal EU contribution No data Address See on map Total cost No data IST Portugal EU contribution No data Address See on map Total cost No data JRC Belgium EU contribution No data Address See on map Total cost No data ROBOSOFT France EU contribution No data Address Technopole d"Izarbel" See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS United Kingdom EU contribution No data Address Woodhouse Lane LS2 9JT LEEDS See on map Total cost No data
