Google’s 46-Camera Light Field Enables 360-Degree View in Regular Videos

In an attempt to make 3D videos and VR more immersive, Google has come up with a 46-camera ‘light field video’ technique that will allow users to change their perspective and peek around corners in videos. The technique will be displayed at SIGGRAPH 2020, the premier conference and exhibition in computer graphics and interactive techniques, scheduled from 19^th July 2020 to 23^rd July 2020.

The light field technique uses footage from 46 cameras synced together, forming a compound eye with a huge field of view. Perspectives from all the cameras are then merged together into a single view where the users can move their viewpoints, and the scenes will react correspondingly in real-time.

Here’s a detailed video showing what kind of scenes can be captured using the technique.

As shown in the video, the effect of high-definition video and freedom of movement gives these light field videos a sense of reality. Other VR-enhanced videos use ordinary stereoscopic 3D that neither allows a change in viewpoint nor gives it the kind of realism that light field videos do.

Over the years, Facebook has worked on understanding depth in photos and adding perspective to them. Although the algorithm they came up with is pretty clever, it still creates a minute shift in perspective as compared to this new technology.

Google’s 46 cameras ‘light field videos’ will revolutionize the world of VR and AR. Further details regarding the technique will be shared at SIGGRAPH.

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