Immersive Teleconferencing
The idea of superimposing a shared user interface on top
of videoconferencing has been researched in a number of
projects. ClearBoard [16] was designed based on a metaphor
of looking through and drawing on a transparent window into
another office. This line of research have since been extended
to include systems that capture the image of a user through
half-silvered screens to provide parallax free videoconferencing
systems that convey eye contact [17, 24]. Recently, 3D
sensors have been used in conjunction with cameras to capture
people and provided interfaces in which 3D realistic representations
of participants are presented blended with user
interface elements [13, 26]. Despite such focus on gaze and
gesture, these systems demonstrate an idea in which videoconferencing
and task specific user interfaces can be combined
into one technology instead of keeping each tool in its
own window or on separate screens. This research has mostly
focused on techniques for preserving eye-contact and conveying
gestures to provide more immersive teleconferencing, and
less on how to make the content shown on top of the video interactive.