Stereoscopic video transmission over the Internet

One of the most remarkable features of the human visual system is the ability to perceive three-dimensional depth. This phenomenon is primarily related to the fact that the binocular disparity causes two slightly different images to be projected on the retinas. The images are fused by the human brain into one three-dimensional view. Various stereoscopic display systems have been devised to present computer generated or otherwise properly produced images separately to the eyes, resulting in the sensation of stereopsis. A stereoscopic visual communication system can be conceived by arranging two identical video cameras with an appropriate interocular separation, encoding the video signals and transporting the resultant data over a network to one or more receivers where it is decoded and properly displayed. The requirements for realising such a system based on Internet technology are discussed and in particular a transport protocol extension is proposed. The design and implementation of a prototype system is discussed and some experiences from using it are reported.