Beyond flat panning and zooming: dolly-enhanced SQTVR

Abstract

This paper describes a novel solution to limitations associated with interactive display of immersive stereographic imagery via Apple's QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR) technology. A unique multinode implementation providing Stereographic QTVR (termed here SQTVR) enables display of pairs of images exhibiting binocular parallax, and the stereoscopic depth percept that results is enhanced by motion parallax inherent in a subtle translation of the viewpoint through the displayed 3D scene. Stereoscopic depth is maintained as a user pans freely through a complete 360/spl deg/ horizontal panorama, while the system imposes a slight dollying in and out of the scene as a user's view rotates left or right. In addition, SQTVR solves two problems that can be observed when users of conventional QTVR technology change viewing positions, and these are problems that generally interfere with a user's sense of immersion and telepresence. First, objects that should be revealed ("disoccluded") by a change in viewing position remain occluded behind objects in the foreground of the image. Second, objects that should loom large as they approach the viewing position are displayed in an unchanging proportion relative to image elements in the background. SQTVR's multinode implementation addresses these two limitations of conventional QTVR technology in a natural way by tiling a plane with equilateral triangles connecting potential viewing positions.