In a pioneering initiative, NYU Tandon School of Engineering has embarked on a mission to revolutionize dance education with the aid of cutting-edge 3D Point-Cloud Video (PCV) technology. This ambitious project, supported by a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, aims to refine PCV to the point of practicality for everyday internet users.
NYU Tandon Dances into the Future with 3D Point-Cloud Video Technology
At the heart of this innovation lies the challenge of transforming PCV from a data-intensive format to a streamable solution that fits into the bandwidth of typical internet connections. NYU researchers are set to tackle this by enhancing the technology’s efficiency in bandwidth consumption and power, making it more suitable for live and on-demand streaming applications.
The initiative, led by Professor Yong Liu, is poised to utilize recent technological advancements to, as Liu puts it, “complete the puzzle of teleporting holograms of real-world humans, creatures, and objects through the global Internet.” This breakthrough has the potential to dramatically enhance virtual reality experiences across various industries, including education, healthcare, and entertainment.
In collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dance Center and the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, the project will see dancers perform on a volumetric capture stage. Their movements will be captured and streamed, providing a dynamic educational resource for dancers and a practical testing ground for the evolving PCV technology.
This partnership underscores NYU’s commitment to interdisciplinary research, bridging the gap between engineering and arts, and laying the groundwork for greater inclusivity in dance education while expanding creative opportunities for artists.
Furthermore, the project aims to make significant contributions in three technical areas: advanced PCV compression techniques, a progressive streaming framework, and efficient caching and delivery strategies. These developments are expected to improve the overall streaming quality and robustness of PCV systems.
The project’s success could usher in a new era for immersive content delivery, enabling users to interact with 3D environments as if physically present. With the planned volumetric performances set to commence in Spring 2024, the implications for the arts and beyond are vast, promising a future where distance and physical presence no longer limit learning or creative expression.
