A Client-Server Approach to Image-Based Rendering on Mobile Terminals

This report shows how to use IBR methods to make possible the rendering of complex scenes on a mobile terminal, such as a PDA, while using a client/ server architecture. The PDA represents the client of a server which computes a very small set of key images (to avoid latency time that would affect interactivity) of a complex 3D scene and transmits them on demand to the client across a low bandwidth network. The client utilizes these images to use a warping technique to compute new images as seen by intermediate cameras (using an IBR technique) whose positions and directions are chosen interactively by the user by moving the stylus of a PDA. The most difficult problem is how to place the cameras (capturing the key images) which allow an efficient warping avoiding artifacts, such as holes, due to occlusions and exposures. Providing a general solution to the problem of camera placement is a hard task. In this report we address only the case of urban scenes.