3DAV exploration of video-based rendering technology in MPEG

New kinds of media are emerging that extend the functionality of available technology. The growth of immersive recording technologies has led to video-based rendering systems for photographing and reproducing environments in motion. This lends itself to new forms of interactivity for the viewer, including the ability to explore a photographic scene and interact with its features. The three-dimensional (3-D) qualities of objects in the scene can be extracted by analysis techniques and displayed by the use of stereo vision. The data types and image bandwidth needed for this type of media experience may require especially efficient formats for representation, coding, and transmission. An overview is presented here of the MPEG activity exploring the need for standardization in this area to support these new applications, under the name of 3DAV (for 3-D audio-visual). As an example, a detailed solution for omnidirectional video is presented as one of the application scenarios in 3DAV.