Virtual worlds using computer vision

Virtual Reality has traditionally relied on hand-created synthetic virtual worlds as approximations of real world spaces. Creation of such virtual worlds is very labour intensive. Computer vision has recently contributed greatly to the creation of the visual/graphical aspect of the virtual worlds. These techniques are classified under image-based-as opposed to geometry-based-rendering in computer graphics. Image based rendering (IBR) aims to recreate a visual world given a few real views of it. We survey some of the important image-based rendering techniques in this paper, analyzing their assumptions and limitations. We then discuss Virtualized Reality, our contribution to the creation of virtual worlds from dynamic events using a stereo technique that gives dense depth maps on all-around views of the event. The virtualized world can be represented as multiple view-dependent models or as a single view-independent model. It can then be synthesized visually given the position and properties of any virtual camera. We present a few results from 3D Dome, our virtualizing facility.