Connected Visual Reality

Connected Visual Reality (CoVR) is a research project which aims to improve the quality and acceptance of audiovisual communication systems. HD videoconferencing and telepresence systems are gaining significance, for both business and private users. To improve the acceptance of such systems the often restricted interoperability as well as the audio and video quality need to be improved.

 

Interoperability means that different participants can use end devices and networks of multiple manufacturers without limitations. New methods for audio and video processing, coding, and transmission shall improve the quality and efficiency of future systems.

The project partners work, for example, on the development and standardization of HEVC (ITU-T/MPEG High Efficiency Video Coding). By using the HEVC standard, the same video quality is achieved at half the bitrate, spent with today’s H.264/AVC video coding standard.

One example of the audio enhancements is a new algorithm for artificial bandwidth extension. This increases the speech intelligibility, especially when traditional fixed and mobile phone users dial into a HD conference.

New functionalities for conferencing in CoVR base on a combined video and audio analysis. Persons in a conference room are detected and localized. This information is then used to improve the signal processing and media encoding.

On the stand of the federal state of NRW (CeBIT 2013: Hall 9, Stand D34) CoVR presents a demonstrator for live videoconferencing. A client at CeBIT dials into a video conference with the project partners in Aachen, showing new functionalities from CoVR.

CoVR is a joint project of Ericsson GmbH, MainConcept GmbH, part of ROVI, and two chairs of the RWTH Aachen University: the Institute of Communication Engineering and the Institute of Communication Systems and Data Processing. CoVR is funded by the partly EU (ERDF) financed Ziel 2-Program of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia.