Google is working on ways to
create the most realistic sense of presence while in VR. To help with that,
Google has been experimenting with light fields to show how VR can come as
close as possible to what you’d actually see if you were there. While wrapping
your head around the advanced capture, stitching, and rendering algorithms
involved in light fields can be complicated, Google has shared a free app on
Steam VR that demonstrates the potential of this technology in a simple way.
'Welcome to Light Fields' is available for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows
Mixed Reality headsets.
The seven-minute guided tour is
an impressive display of a few places where Google tested out their light
field-recording camera rig. Be sure to move your head around and view subject
matter from all different angles. Different rays of light coming into the
volume of space are recorded from all angles thanks to a modified GoPro Odyssey
Jump camera, bent into a vertical arc of 16 cameras mounted on a rotating
platform. There are even some recordings of people showing how eye contact can
be made to work in a 6-degrees-of-freedom experience.
More information: