Enabling low-complexity devices for interaction with 3D media content via Android API

Abstract

This paper deals with an interactive multimedia system based on Android OS, where several functional modules were developed to enable the use of low-complexity remote control devices. The system architecture comprises the remote control device with Magnetic, Angular Rate, Gravity (MARG) sensors for 3D motion tracking and an Android set-top-box, integrating a novel Application Programming Interface (API), specifically developed for this purpose. A proper decision whether the most complex functions should run on the remote control device, or on the Android set-top-box, is an open issue and depends on the specific application and the desired portability. Therefore taking into account energy consumption when balancing the computational burden is paramount. Given that the set-top-box has no limitations on energy consumption and has a superior computational power, the propose API can perform all the processing of sensors data, allowing the implementation of complex fusion algorithms with higher precision. The analysis of energy consumption on the remote control device shows that transmitting the raw sensors data, to be processed in the API, results in lower energy consumption in the remote control device, and consequently higher autonomy with good accuracy.