SkyMedia integration pre-test at Tutta Dritta 2012

The SkyMedia consortium carried out the integration pre-test during the Tutta Dritta 2012 race, which was held in Turin on April 22, 2012.

This race was very particular, since its was a 10Km race "all straight", starting from the centre of Turin, in San Carlo square, and finishing in the wonderful Hunting residence of Stupinigi, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. This year edition, the 9th, saw the participation of more than 7.300 runners from all over the world.

Tutta Dritta race course

The SkyMedia consortium was present with a booth at "Tutta Dritta Village" in Piazza San Carlo, exhibiting the project activities and technologies to the audience.

The SkyMedia booth in piazza San Carlo

The consortium arranged the test preparing the integration of the SkyMedia MSP (Multimedia Service Platform) with the other platform components in the days before the race at Nimbus premises.

To perform the integration test, three SkyMedia runners were involved to run the whole course of the race.
They were equipped with a hearth rate sensor which was connected, through a Bluetooth® transmitter, to the runner application installed on their Android smartphones.
The runner application collected and sent to the server data about runner's heart rate, position (retrieved through the GPS of the smartphone), and general performance (time, pace, steps, covered distance).

Moreover, a SkyMedia booth was set up close to the finish line in order to perform further live tests during the race.

The main components of the tested platform were the following.

3D cameras

Two 3D cameras were pointed in order to shoot the end of the race. A smartphone with the SkyMedia camera application retrieved the camera position and orientation, in order to detect the passing of the runners.

Transcoding and streaming server

A multimedia server collected the feeds from the cameras and performed a live transcoding to a live adaptive HTTP streaming format.

Data Fusion server

The Data Fusion server collected all the data coming from the runners and from the cameras, making them available to the SkyMedia Interactive application.

Interactive End User Applications

The Interactive application run on a 46'' HD touch screen monitor. The application showed a 2D live feed from one of the 3D cameras, runners' performance data and the map reporting their live position during the race. The application also showed interesting touristic information about the most important monuments in Turin.

Also the iPad application was tested, to verify its capability to scan QR codes worn by the SkyMedia runners or mounted close to some monuments in Turin. Through QR codes, spectators got a link to runners' performance or were redirected to a touristic information page.

  

SkyMedia at the Paris Marathon

From the 13th to the 15th of April 2012, SkyMedia and Turin Marathon were present at the Expo area set up in the occasion of the 36th Paris Marathon, which saw the participation of more than 40.000 runners.

Turin Marathon presented its events calendar for 2012, that will culminate in the 26th Turin Marathon on November 18, 2012, when the final demo of the SkyMedia project will take place.

On the other hand, the SkyMedia partner Vitec showed some 3D videos taken during the first SkyMedia pre-test in occasion of the 25th Marathon of Turin, held on November 2011. The audience enjoyed with interest the opportunity to have such an immersive experience, as if they were participating to a live event.

Report on SkyMedia at Berliner Half-Marathon

SkyMedia and Turin Marathon were present in the Exhibition area at the Berliner Half Marathon, March, 29-31, 2012.

The Berlin Vital Spring Expo 2012 was a great success, it was indeed visited by almost 40.000 participants and the SkyMedia project was presented to a very large audience.

SkyMedia at 32nd Berlin Half-Marathon

SkyMedia will be present at Berlin Vital Spring Expo 2012, which will take place from Thursday, March 29 to Saturday, March 31, 2012 in the framework of the 32nd Berlin Half-Marathon, which will be held on April 1, 2012.

The SkyMedia project will be hosted by Turin Marathon in the exhibition area on the premises of the former Berlin Tempelhof Airport, in the Hangar 6 - Stand 312.

SkyMedia at 3D Cooperative Research Projects Workshop

SkyMedia participated to a workshop on "3D Cooperative Research Projects", which has been held on January 31, 2012, in Paris, at Telecom ParisTech premises and organised by NXP.

The workshop was restricted to collaborative research projects partners and relatives. Invitations have been sent by the representatives of the concerned projects and gathered contributions from five collaborative research projects:

• 3DLive a French FUI project
• CALDER a French ANR project
• iGlance a EUREKA MEDEA+ project
• JEDI a EUREKA ITEA2 project
• SkyMedia a FP7 ICT project

SkyMedia contributed with a poster on stereoscopic acquisition and 3D/HD processing in the SkyMedia architecture, illustrating the main steps from the acquisition to the reality augmentation on end-users terminals.

The event was co-located with the "3D Video Workshop", organised by Telecom ParisTech in collaboration with the SEE club SI2D (Signal, Image, Information & Decision).

SkyMedia on BBC White Paper "3D-TV R&D Activities in Europe"

The SkyMedia project has been mentioned on the BBC R&D White Paper "3D-TV R&D Activities in Europe", as one of the 3D TV focused projects funded under the aegis of the EU 7th Framework Programme.

This new BBC White Paper reveals research into holographic displays, 3D holoscopy for the Internet, new spatial sound systems, laser based glasses free 3D screens for multiple viewers and 3D video for mobile.

SkyMedia Interactive application test at Turin Marathon 2011

During the technological pre-test carried out at Turin Marathon 2011, the interactive application developed within the framework of the SkyMedia project was tested.

The Interactive application was designed to allow users to constantly follow the event, even with augmented and interactive information. In order to guarantee a complete immersive experience, both during and after the race, for spectators and VIP audience, three different modes for the application have been designed: the Live, Director, and Offline mode.

During the pre-test carried out at Turin Marathon 2011, only the Offline application was shown to the audience. This application allows spectators to watch highlights and runners’ performances after the race.

The SkyMedia Interactive application will be shown with full functionalities, together with the Live and the Director mode, during the second pre-test at Tutta Dritta 2012 (April 22, 2012) and during the final demonstration at Turin Marathon 2012.

For this demonstration of the Interactive application, a 42’’ HD touchscreen was mounted in the dedicated SkyMedia booth, at the Expo area in Piazza Castello in Turin. The interactive application was exposed for all the three days event and every people interested in was invited to test it.

The SkyMedia 42'' Full HD Touch Screen monitor

Through the application it was possible to see pre-recorded video from the previous year edition of the race, along with the six SkyMedia runners' personal data and performance such as heartbeat, race time, pace, running distance, and calories burned.

SkyMedia Offline Interactive application

It was also available the Touristic Information page, where end users could navigate a map with the route of the marathon and highlighed point of interest, with historical and touristic information.

SkyMedia Offline Interactive application - Touristic Information view

The testers of the Interactive application was invited to fill in and submit a questionnaire on their user experience. Their feedback was really impressive: the application received indeed high marks in all aspects: usefulness, usability, and graphics.

The SkyMedia questionnaire