Canon develops Free Viewpoint Video, an immersive virtual camera system

Thanks to optical and sensor technologies, the system creates a totally realistic and immersive experience and gives the user the feeling of being in the middle of the action.

Canon has developed Free Viewpoint Video, a new visual solution that incorporates optical and sensor technologies that aims to offer great added value to a wide range of applications, including sports competitions.

During sports competitions, different types of video production are used in order to convey the passion of sports and the emotion in the confrontations. With the development of Free Viewpoint Video, which creates a completely realistic and immersive experience and gives the user the feeling of being in the middle of the action, Canon achieves a video experience that can be viewed from various angles and points of view, pushing the boundaries of visual expression and contributing to the development of video culture.

The system consists of an assembly of several high-resolution cameras around the stadium, connected to a network and controlled by software to simultaneously record the competition from multiple points of view. Subsequently, image processing technology produces videos in the form of high-resolution 3D data, through which users can freely move a virtual camera through a three-dimensional space, generating a video that can be viewed from different angles and points of view.

The Free Viewpoint Video system offers an innovative and fully immersive visual experience, allowing spectators to control a virtual camera in a 3D space and move freely throughout the stadium, and even experience the simulated physical sensation of being among the players on the field of play during the competition. In addition to offering a new way to enjoy sports competitions, Canon plans to explore potential applications for this new system, including training sports teams and athletes.