The Virtual Reality Industry Forum (VRIF) announced the publication of the first draft for public review of its Industry Guidelines for Volumetric Video Streaming.

VRIF volumetric video guidelines

The Virtual Reality Industry Forum (VRIF) announced the publication of the first draft for public review of its Industry Guidelines for Volumetric Video Streaming on 2 December 2021. These guidelines are the first of its kind to cover volumetric video streaming so comprehensively, focusing on aspects such as production, distribution and consumption of volumetric video assets. In particular, the guidelines address -

• Volumetric video production workflows for meshes and point clouds
• A survey of most common volumetric capture systems
• A media profile standard for distribution using Video Point Cloud Compression (V-PCC)

“Volumetric video production is a great tool to create compelling realistic immersive experiences that can be consumed in a variety of devices including flat screens, AR glasses and VR headsets. However, its main challenge for wider adoption has been the lack of standardised media formats for distribution. With the VRIF Volumetric Video Guidelines, we hope to see an increase in the adoption of these services and improve interoperability among service providers,” said Mauricio Aracena, VRIF President and standardisation manager from Ericsson.

The guidelines are available for public review on the Forum’s website and we welcome feedback to improve the quality of the document.” The final release of Volumetric Video Guidelines 1.0 will be published at the beginning of 2022.

Formed during CES 2017, VRIF is a non-profit organisation with the purpose of making high-quality audiovisual VR experiences widely available for the benefit of consumers. Initially focusing only on VR360, VRIF redefined its scope to address new challenges to the industry with focus areas to target different stakeholders’ interests as well as to secure VRIF’s long-term vision. There are four parallel tracks – VR360, Volumetric, Social VR and 5G Cloud.

VRIF released its first guidelines in 2017 and has conducted a number of master classes sessions and industry workshops; the most recent event in October 2021 was 'VR Trends & Innovations from Asia Pacific Region'.   www.vr-if.org