Huawei is introducing, for the first time, a new concept called “full field communication” at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015, revealing a prototype called MirrorSys.
This system is designed to meet the extreme limits of human visual and auditory perception in a full-size, high definition, realtime sharing and communication system. MirrorSys transmits all of the captured light, sound, and atmosphere to a user in what Huawei calls “full field communication”. The initial MirrorSys prototype has a seamless 220 inch diagonal display with a resolution that matches human visual acuity at a distance of 2,4 metres.
The director of Huawei’s Media Technologies Lab, Dr James “Bo” Begole, says, “Today, even the highest quality telepresence systems have a limited, fixed view of the world that doesn’t match human perception of our rich, real environment.
“We aim to change that. Full field communication transports all of the information from one environment to another over the network, creating a true digital reflection with all of the sights, sounds, and feelings of the people in it. Tomorrow’s immersive communications will provide a feeling of reality as if you were right there, fully present in the remote reality.”
Huawei will demonstrate the MirrorSys prototype to visitors to its booth at MWC 2015 through a wall-sized display with life-size images and spatial sound. Visitors to Huawei’s living wall will see a well-designed room fitted unknowingly with a MirrorSys screen as one of the walls.
Soon after entering the space, the room will begin to morph into one of 5 ambient environments, accompanied by carefully choreographed surround sound to make visitors feel as if they are present in the remote environment.
“In the future, we will be able to enjoy exotic scenery sent wirelessly from friends cameras or by remotely piloted unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), experience live sports events on the field with world-class athletes, and shop virtually in the world’s most exclusive boutique shops.
“Hard-to-find skilled technicians will be able to remotely repair complex machinery, specialized surgeons will perform delicate operations remotely, and students will explore the most advanced frontiers of science in hard-to-reach geographies of the world, along with other unforeseen entertainment and business opportunities,” says Dr Begole.
The initial MirrorSys prototype provides 8K ultra high definition video with a 110-degree-wide viewing angle, along with a 22.2 channel sound field with imperceptible latency. It vividly presents all information at a remote terminal, offering audiences an extremely immersive audio-visual experience. The extensible architecture of the system allows higher image resolution and larger viewing angles.
In the future, people, things and scenes will be connected via real-time media sharing, which will stimulate the development of communication networks with wide bandwidth, low delay across a huge number of connections. At the same time, there will be demand for better computation and storage capabilities.
“This is a new starting point for multimedia communication experiences. In the near future, zero-distance communication will become ordinary, enriching people’s connections and lives,” he adds.
Huawei’s Media Technologies Lab is dedicated to developing “full field communication” to realise the ultimate form of communication. The lab focuses on research and innovation to capture, transport and present a panoramic light field and spatial sound field, along with related key technologies such as high efficiency data compression. Cooperating with partners in industry and universities, the lab promotes advancement and development of technologies and standards to construct an open, win-win ecosystem.
