DEMOCRATS in Imagine-B5G Open Call #1

DEMOCRATS, which stands for eDgE platforM fOr dynamiC xR applicATionS, is a vertical experiment being performed in the IMAGINE-B5G project from the partners HUN-REN TKI and will be tested in the Spanish facility, at UPV. It is one of 15 projects that were selected for the first Open Call of Imagine-B5G.

Extended Reality applications with a new level of immersive interactions enable a new generation of applications in many fields. However, the required quality of user experience poses several challenges. In this project, the team will deploy their novel edge/cloud-based XR platform to the Imagine B5G infrastructure, where resource-intensive tasks are offloaded to the edge, while delay-critical tasks are executed on the head-mounted display. In the targeted use case, an XR application focused on gaming will be developed. We conduct experiments and analyze the user experience in different network scenarios.

The proposed solution will impact IMAGINE-B5G in different ways: 

• Societal level: The validation of the experiment should demonstrate significant improvement of key parameters like energy consumption (both for the SNS platform and the vertical use cases), safety (incl. EMF exposure), coverage and access, cost and affordability, trustworthiness (according to the selected evaluation methodology), security (in the context of the corresponding threat model) and privacy being part of the priority SDGs to demonstrate in a “user context”, i.e. sufficiently representative of a target operational context.
• Technical level: From scientific aspects, the novel or tailor-made warp methods designed based on the experiments and measurements conducted in the project can have impact and trigger further research works. For example, a sophisticated control mechanism which can adjust or combine the available warp algorithms on-the-fly according to the current network conditions can have future potential. The impact of the project results is expected to affect the networking domain as well. The conclusions on the trade-offs between network performance (delay, jitter, losses) and warp methods (hiding network issues) which determine the XR user experience can provide feedbacks for 6G design and standardization activities. The high potential for this type of impact is guaranteed by our industry partner, Ericsson Research. Moreover, the novel features of the platform can be important building blocks of future metaverse embodiments.
• Vertical Area(s): the XR application that will be developed in the project will be impactful for the gaming vertical due to its ability to address the challenges of high visual fidelity in resource constrained XR devices. The application leverages offloading graphics-intensive tasks to high-performance remote servers and employs image-based methods for efficient rendering on resource-constrained devices. The application will adopt an object-centered approach to reduce unnecessary bandwidth usage. Additionally, the implementation of split rendering, will optimize resource utilization and user experience. The XR application will also addresses challenges related to object detection and tracking, utilizing state-of-the-art methods integrated into the platform.

This project has already started its work in the IMAGINE-B5G first open call. If you want to learn more about this and the other selected projects stay tuned to our website and our social media channels.