Comparing the end to end latency of an immersive collaborative environment and a video conference

Latency in a communication system can result in confusing a conversation through loss of causality as people exchange verbal and non-verbal nuances. This paper compares true end-to-end latencies across an immersive virtual environment and a video conference link using the same approach to measure both. Our approach is to measure end-to-end latency through filming the movements of a participant and their remote representation through synchronised cameras. We also compare contemporary and traditional immersive display and capture devices, whilst also measuring event latency taken from log files. We compare an immersive collaborative virtual environment to a video conference as both attempt to reproduce different aspects of the face-to- face meeting, the former favouring appearance and the latter attention. Results inform not only the designers of both approaches but also set the requirements for future developments for 3D video which has the potential to faithfully reproduce both appearance and attention.