Virtual Visits: Life-size Immersive Communication

Abstract

Elderly people in care homes face a great lack of contact with their families and loved ones. Social isolation and loneliness are detrimental factors for older people in their health condition, cognitive impairment and quality of life. We previously presented a communication system that facilitated high-quality mediated social contact through an Augmented Reality tool with 3D user capture and rendering on an iPad. We have further enhanced this system and propose a new demonstrator that provides a working communication system between the elderly and family members on a life-size display. A complete end-to-end chain architecture is presented, where capture, transmission, and rendering are enhanced to provide a tool for natural interaction and high social presence. Our system is technically ready and well-adapted to meet the needs of elderly users.