July 19, 2024
The Fernseh- und Kinotechnische Gesellschaft (FKTG) honored researchers from the Vision and Imaging Technologies (VIT) department of Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (HHI) with the "Innovation Award for Media Technology in IT" at its 30th symposium from June 3 to 5. The team prize honors individuals and projects with outstanding achievements in the field of media technology. With this award, the FKTG recognizes the special team achievement in the development of "3D Human Body Reconstruction" (3D HBR) as a basic technology for volumetric scanning.
3D HBR captures real people simultaneously with multiple cameras and uses the video information to create dynamic 3D models that move naturally and can be viewed from any position in the virtual world. The volumetric video recording system consists of 16 stereo cameras that capture 3D information from all different viewpoints around a person, similar to the human eye. These data points are fused and converted into a consistent, natural and dynamic 3D representation of the person.
The award-winning team consists of Decai Chen, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Eisert, Ingo Feldmann, Arne Finn, Dr.-Ing. Anna Hilsmann, Peter Kauff, Wieland Morgenstern, Dr.-Ing. Ralf Schäfer, Dr.-Ing. Oliver Schreer and Marcus Zepp. Their achievement represents many years of successful collaboration between researchers from the VIT department.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved for their hard work and commitment. Unfortunately, the number of mentioned people is limited, there could have been many more names here," emphasized Ingo Feldmann, who accepted the award in Mainz on behalf of the entire team. "The award represents a great achievement across different research groups at Fraunhofer HHI."Without the support of all VIT groups and other HHI departments, the developments and the ongoing good results would not have been possible."
The Fernseh- und Kinotechnische Gesellschaft (FKTG) is one of the oldest technical associations in Germany. The FKTG conference attracts several hundred experts every two years. This year's event focused on the use of generative AI solutions in media production workflows, green production and sustainability, cloud production and other innovative applications in cinema, TV and digital AV media.