Close to 100 McPherson ERI members and associates attended the McPherson the 9th Annual Vision Science Poster Session on Thursday, October 12th. The session was immediately followed by the McPherson ERI distinguished guest lecturer, 
Professor Steven Seitz
of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington (and Seattle Team Director at Google Seattle).
There is a big difference between looking at a photo and actually being there, experiencing the moment in person. While we take this difference for granted today, this gap will close dramatically over the next few years. In his talk, Professor Seitz described technology for immersive photography where viewers feel like they ARE there—by leveraging camera arrays, computer vision algorithms, novel streaming technologies, and virtual reality headsets. Using 360-degree virtual reality video to capture sights and sounds for a fully encompassing experience allows the viewer to be temporarily transported to somewhere other than where they actually are.
Dr. Seitz’s lecture was co-sponsored by the Department of Computer Sciences and Department of Biostatistics & Medical Informatics, with additional funding courtesy of the Lectures Committee General Fund.