Free viewpoint browsing of live soccer games

We present a new video browsing method for multiple videos that are taken at large-scale space for live 3D events such as soccer games. By our method, multiple viewers over a computer network can browse a live 3D event from any viewpoint and each viewer can move his/her viewpoint freely. Our algorithm consists of five steps. Our system first captures videos from multiple cameras, then extracts texture segments from the videos, selects appropriate segments according to a viewpoint which is given by user dynamically, transmits them to users, and lays out the segments in virtual space so that each viewer can see the segments in a virtual environment as if the viewers were in the event. Our 3D video display system requires 10 Mbps at most to browse a soccer game. We conducted experiments at two real soccer stadiums and succeeded in realizing live realistic visualization with free viewpoint at about 26 fps