Free-viewpoint video rendering for mobile devices

Abstract

Free-viewpoint video renderers (FVVR) allow a user to view captured video footage from any position and direction. Despite the obvious appeal of such systems, they have yet to make a major impact on digital entertainment. Current FVVR implementations have been on desktop computers. Media consumption is increasingly through mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets; adapting FVVR to mobile platforms will open this new form of media up to a wider audience. An efficient, high-quality FVVR, which runs in real time with user interaction on a mobile device, is presented. Performance is comparable to recent desktop implementations. The FVVR supports relighting and integration of relightable free-viewpoint video (FVV) content into computer-generated scenes. A novel approach to relighting FVVR content is presented which does not require prior knowledge of the scene illumination or accurate surface geometry. Surface appearance is separated into a detail component, and a set of materials with properties determining surface colour and specular behaviour. This allows plausible relighting of the dynamic FVV for rendering on mobile devices. © 2013 ACM.