The OmniCam developed at Fraunhofer HHI is a scalable, mirror-based multi-camera system that allows the recording of live videos in a 360° panoramic format. The newest OmniCam-model, the OmniCam-360, consists of ten 36° mirror segments. Each of these mirror segments is equipped with one HD camera. The cameras are arranged vertically in a circle and therefore interact with the cylindrically arranged mirror segments. This arrangement of the cameras around a virtual center allows the parallax-free image stitching, which can be applied to scenes in the range between 1 meter and infinite. The covered field of view is about 60°.
The 180-degree cinema named TiME Lab, located at the Fraunhofer HHI, is equipped with a multi-projection system. This system consists of 14 HD projectors reaching all areas of the curved screen. The core of the TiME Lab multi-projection system is the CineBox, which simultaneously provides the feeds for 14 projectors.
The TiME Lab has at its disposal a 140 channel planar wave field synthesizing system (WFS) to render the acoustic part of any content with great authenticity. The WFS is an object-based multiple channel sound reproduction system. This enables audio reproductions to map sounds to their sources in the same way as they would be located in a non-artificial environment. With limitations, this even extends to the acoustic space between the speakers and listeners. In addition, the acoustic character of rooms or environments, such as those of churches or concert halls, can be realistically reproduced by wave field synthesizers – listeners get almost transported into these environments. In contrast to discrete playback formats (stereo, 5.1, 7.1 etc.), the WFS auditory sensation area is almost as large as the area enclosed between the speakers and the listeners. Another important fact is that there are no ‘sweet spots‘.
The Real Time Stitching Engine (RTSE) is a software-based solution for the real-time processing of ultra-HD panoramic recordings. The software provides all necessary steps to process a certain number of omnidirectional camera images into an ultra-HD panorama. These steps include for instance color matching, warping, stitching, and blending. The software can simultaneously process multiple HD streams and runs on a single multi-core PC, equipped with commercially available graphic cards.
Fraunhofer HHI’s TiME Lab sets new standards in media technologies! The acronym TiME Lab stands for Tomorrow‘s immersive Media Experience Laboratory. This showroom contains an entire chain of systems and applications, which can be explored and exploited within different projects. The setup integrates innovations in the areas of 180 ° video projection, steric audio rendition and the real-time broadcasting of panoramic recordings.
In 2009, the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) opened the TiME Lab for the first time to demonstrate new media technologies. The lab is unique in its design: it measures about 60 square meters, features a 3.35 m high and 12 m long curved projection screen, has 14 HD projectors, has 120 speakers arrayed in circle at ear level plus 15 ceiling speakers, and 4 subwoofers.
