There's no reason the color and depth data produced by the Kinects can't be encoded and compressed in a "regular" video stream.
A very naive approach (where you simply stitch the images side by side in a larger video stream) would require you to transmit 6 separate 640x480 video streams.
640 x 480 = 307,200 pixels
A 1080p video stream, that can now be easily broadcasted to any decent household internet connection, has 1920 x 1080 pixels.
1920 x 1080 = 2,073,600
2,073,600 / 307,200 = 6.75
So the 6 separate video streams would fit just right into it!
I'm not taking into account some factors, like:
* The effect of existing video compression algorithms on depth maps (might cause some severe artifacts, since they're tuned for color vision perception)
* The fact that the depth map has a single color channel, and can probably be represented more efficiently than a full color RGB 640x480 image.
* Framerate (60 fps is probably needed for a more immersive feel)
But I do think it's very feasible to stream this type of 3D video in real time with current Internet speeds.
Not in this case, because the raw scanner data of the person has to be compressed and transmitted, while 3D multiplayer games only have to transmit the positions and actions of models that all the computers already have.
There's no reason the color and depth data produced by the Kinects can't be encoded and compressed in a "regular" video stream.
A very naive approach (where you simply stitch the images side by side in a larger video stream) would require you to transmit 6 separate 640x480 video streams.
640 x 480 = 307,200 pixels
A 1080p video stream, that can now be easily broadcasted to any decent household internet connection, has 1920 x 1080 pixels.
1920 x 1080 = 2,073,600
2,073,600 / 307,200 = 6.75
So the 6 separate video streams would fit just right into it!
I'm not taking into account some factors, like:
* The effect of existing video compression algorithms on depth maps (might cause some severe artifacts, since they're tuned for color vision perception)
* The fact that the depth map has a single color channel, and can probably be represented more efficiently than a full color RGB 640x480 image.
* Framerate (60 fps is probably needed for a more immersive feel)
But I do think it's very feasible to stream this type of 3D video in real time with current Internet speeds.