Real-time 2D to 3D Video Solution for PCVR

I have been developing a 2D to 3D real-time video conversion solution for use with VR headsets and media players such as BigScreen.

Virtual Reality solutions are extremely demanding on machine resources. PCVR allows the resources of a PC to be used to drive VR headsets, either wired or standalone, to provide much greater power and indeed additional functionality.

For example, the PCVR version of BigScreen provides greater functionality, in terms of video sharing, than the standalone version that runs in headsets such as the Meta Quest range.

The resources of a PCVR solution are not infinite, however, and the more software that is required to deliver a given solution, the more powerful the system needs to be. PCVR systems can fail under the load of supporting multiple requirements, e.g. providing Digital Media Server functions as well as PCVR streaming.

This post is about a lighter-weight 2D to 3D real-time video conversion utility that will run happily alongside applications such as the Steam VR version of BigScreen, on an average PCVR system, to deliver 3D video for VR users from 2D sources without having to convert them in advance.

The solution performs all of the advanced 2D to 3D algorithmic functions described here and here, whilst also producing the Half SBS aspect ratio corrected 3D video format demanded by BigScreeen.

The demonstration video below shows this 2D-to-3D real-time video conversion solution, running the Steam VR version of BigScreen via the Steam VR support of Virtual Desktop. This demonstration is running wirelessly in a Meta Quest 2 headset. The example video is the 1080p Avatar 2: The Way of Water Trailer:

The Stream to 3D product is now very close to release. See a more detailed overview with screen shots and details of its functionality here.