Demo: A QoE and visual attention evaluation on the influence of audio in 360° videos.

Abstract

360° video, also known as immersive video, is the recording of video content which simultaneously captures scene information in every direction, using an omnidirectional camera. Due to their immersive nature, the popularity of 360° videos has grown significantly. Understanding user Visual Attention when watching 360° videos is very important. This knowledge can help develop effective techniques for processing, encoding, distributing, and rendering 360° content. Whilst major efforts have concentrated on the visual element of immersive experiences, recently there has been growing interest in different forms of audio and in particular high-quality spatial audio. Spatial audio allows listeners to experience sound in all directions. Ambisonics or 3D audio is one such technique which offers a complete 360° soundscape. Although several models of visual and audio-visual attention have been proposed, very few have investigated the role of spatial audio in guiding attention in 360° videos. This demo shows our dataset and our methodological approach to understanding the user’s audio-visual attention and QoE when experiencing 360° videos enhanced with spatial sound (first and third order ambisonic). Our research focus is to understand how audio affects Visual Attention in 360° videos and to evaluate its impact on the user’s Quality of Experience (QoE).