Immersive Computing: Vision, Infrastructure, and Use Cases

Immersive computing signifies a paradigm shift in how people interact with digital content and their surrounding 3D environments. In this vision paper, we first outline a comprehensive roadmap for advancing immersive computing, encompassing virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, which are often collectively referred to as extended reality, and immersive content delivery, including 360-degree panoramic video streaming and volumetric video streaming, by identifying key challenges and opportunities. We then describe CoMIC, a research infrastructure that offers a collaborative, visual-first, and hologram-based computing space and a quality-driven, multi-site, and immersive communication framework for collaborative mobile immersive computing. Given the interdisciplinary nature of immersive computing, we present several key use cases that could be enabled by CoMIC. We conclude this paper by envisioning a future where our digital experiences will transcend the boundaries of screens and devices, immersing us in a world where the virtual and physical seamlessly merge.