Session language: english with spanish subtitles
Hybrid Extended reAliTy (HEAT) is born to pave the way for the next-generation distributed experiences by addressing major challenges to make those experiences that up to now could only be in our imagination: being realistically immersed (holo-ported) within real captured omnidirectional and navigable hyper-realistic 3D spaces, feeling their atmosphere, and sharing these experiences with others, regardless of their location. The aim of this proposal is to integrate immersive media technologies such as point cloud/holographic imaging, multi-sensorial media, Social VR in a multi-user, feedback-enabled communication system to provide the construction of compelling context-aware and embodied experiences for innovative hybrid XR applications, where remote users can experience a real captured environment through immersive VR, while in presence users can visualise and interact with the holograms of remote users integrated in the real environment through holographic rendering. The system will aim at facilitating the exploitation of agile (multi-sensory) 3D data acquisition techniques, enhancing performance while reducing technology costs. It will create a scalable communication pipeline embodying either encapsulation of different media from classical audio-video to multisensorial to holographic video or a combination of them, providing means for efficient and scalable encoding, processing, storage, (real-time) streaming and rendering. In such a way, the system will allow users to provide/exploit the features according to the acquisition/rendering system available. The project will provide well designed and fully tested scenarios in real-world environments for enhanced XR experiences: a blended learning, a modern theatre act, a music festival and an opera show. All pilot actions will ensure that GDPR and ethics are addressed for end-users (privacy and ethics by design methodology).
Maurizio Murroni is associate professor of Telecommunications at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (DIEE) of the University of Cagliari. He is a member of the National Interuniversity Consortium for Telecommunications (CNIT) for which from 2011-2019 he was scientific director of the research unit at the University of Cagliari. He received a MSc. in Electronic Engineering in 1998 and a PhD in Electronic and Computer Engineering in 2001 at the University of Cagliari. He was visiting scholar at the School of Electronic Engineering, Information Technology and Mathematics, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK in 1998 and at the Image Processing Group at Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, New York, USA, in 2000. In 2006 and 2014 he was visiting professor at the Department of Electronics and Computers of the University of Transylvania in Brasov in Romania, in 2011 at the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Faculty of Engineering of Bilbao, University of the Basque Country (UPV / EHU) in Spain and in 2020 at Kingston University in London, UK. In 2016 he founded the Italian chapter of the Broadcast Technology Society (BTS) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE). Since 2018 he has been distinguished lecturer for BTS on the topic quality of experience (QoE) for advanced broadcast services. Since 2020 is chair of the distinguished lecturer program of BTS. Prof. Murroni is co-author of an extensive list of articles published in journals and on international conference proceedings and has received numerous awards and recognitions. He has served as chair for various international conferences and workshops. He is co-author of 1900.6-2011 - IEEE Standard for Spectrum Sensing Interfaces and Data Structures for Dynamic Spectrum Access and other Advanced Radio Communication Systems and associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting. Prof. Murroni has served as project evaluator for several EU research programs, and he is principal investigator (coordinator) of the Horizon Europe project HEAT - Hybrid Extended reality, GA- 101135637 on the call HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-21- Next Generation eXtended Reality. He was involved in the project QoE-Net - Quality of Experience maNagement in Emerging mulTimedia Service, Contract n. 643072, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Initial Training Network, funded by H2020-MSCA-ITN, in 2012-2016, in the project MAVEN - Management and Authenticity Verification of multimedia contENts, funded by EU FP7 from 2013-2015, in the ICT COST Action IC1003 QUALINET, "European Network on Quality of Experience in Multimedia Systems and Services", in 2012 - 2016 and in the ICT COST Action 3DConTourNet - 3D content creation, coding and transmission over future media networks in 2012-2016. His research focuses on immersive XR technology communications, QoE, HbbTV, multi sensorial media, broadcast/multicast delivery on 5G networks.