Abstract
With increase of the interdisciplinary collaboration between remotely located researchers, a communication environment with high reality becomes essential as a collaboration support tool. In a VizGrid project, we propose a concept called Volume Communication as a new collaboration support tool which provides remote conference system with high reality. In the Volume Communication concept we setup a virtual collaboration room and allocate three-dimensional (3D) video human images of researchers at remote locations, 3D numerical simulation results and measured data. By visualizing the virtual collaboration room from each researchers view point, we can realize an environment as if these researchers communicate each other in the same meeting room. To realize the remote conference system with high reality, we develop voxel communication method which handle 3D video human images, 3D simulation result graphic images and 3D measured data graphic images as voxel data and transmit, allocate, visualize and operate these data. In this paper we report the voxel communication method and evaluated results of its functionality and performance by experimental system.
