Research-wise, the project aims at advancing the area of plenoptic imaging by tackling problems related to acquisition, modeling, processing, and visualization of plenoptic data. On the acquisition side, this includes researching new optical meta materials for designing phase-code masks, using omnidirectional capture settings, modeling diverse surfaces by plenoptic point clouds, and investigating coherent light sensing approaches for 3D visual data acquisition. The acquisition stage is complemented with the modeling and processing stage where new methods for processing multi modal data are being developed, such as, learning algorithms for solving inverse problems with new imaging modalities, deep gating network based algorithms for noise reduction, compression, and super-resolution of light field data and optimization of distribute heterogenous computing for real time light field interpolation algorithms. It is expected that the developed acquisition and processing techniques will enable the capture and reconstruction of multi-dimensional content with high angular, spatial, temporal and wavelength resolution. On the visualization side, novel perceptually optimized light field displays will be developed, and a more realistic experience will be supported by removing the headset in XR applications and providing AR for interactive remote access and operation.
The PLENOPTIMA project will address shortcoming in the current state of the art and strengthen the area of plenoptic imaging. It is expected to have impact on various industries as mentioned above. From the social perspective, the outcomes of PLENOPTIMA will open new possibilities for realistic collaborative working environments. Natural virtual shared environments will reduce travel time and travel cost and as such have impact on climate itself. Plenoptic Imaging is also strong enabler of health-related applications such as tomography and live-cell microscopy, safety-critical applications in machine and robot industries, and VR/AR/XR applications.
On an individual level, the involved ESRs will get a world-quality cross-disciplinary training making them versatile experts in the area of plenoptic imaging. During the project they will, in addition to specialized knowledge in their area of expertise, build a strong set of transferable skills. The gathered knowledge and skills will culminate in the double or joint doctoral degree diplomas, as illustrated in Figure 2. This will open various career opportunities either in academia or industry. By the end of their training, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellows will be prepared to lead the next generation of researchers and start a new cycle of breakthrough innovations.
