MatrixView: Extending Immersion in Video Conferencing

We present MatrixView (MV) – a setup to increase immersion in video conferencing systems. MV consists of a pan-tilt video camera mounted on a car which moves along a horizontal track. The car moves in such a way, that the user is kept in the center of the image (“Matrix” movie effect, see Figure 1). Using this setup in a video conference application, enables a remote user to manipulate his virtual position and orientation relatively to the acquired object or person. We use computer vision to track the remote observer’s head and adjust the camera position according to the head movements. Alternatively the camera can be remote-controlled by using a GUI. Preliminary tests have given us a positive user feedback. Figure 1: Different points of view of the camera