Motion-Aware Optical Camera Communication with Event Cameras

TL;DR

This paper presents a motion-aware optical camera communication system using event cameras, significantly improving data throughput and localization accuracy in dynamic conditions compared to traditional CMOS camera-based systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel event camera-based system with dynamic visual markers and tracking algorithms to overcome motion and refresh rate limitations in optical camera communication.

Findings

Achieves up to 114 Kbps data rate in static conditions.

Attains 1 cm localization accuracy with 1% bit error rate under motion.

Demonstrates robustness against camera motion and screen refresh challenges.

Abstract

As the ubiquity of smart mobile devices continues to rise, Optical Camera Communication systems have gained more attention as a solution for efficient and private data streaming. This system utilizes optical cameras to receive data from digital screens via visible light. Despite their promise, most of them are hindered by dynamic factors such as screen refreshing and rapid camera motion. CMOS cameras, often serving as the receivers, suffer from limited frame rates and motion-induced image blur, which degrade overall performance. To address these challenges, this paper unveils a novel system that utilizes event cameras. We introduce a dynamic visual marker and design event-based tracking algorithms to achieve fast localization and data streaming. Remarkably, the event camera's unique capabilities mitigate issues related to screen refresh rates and camera motion, enabling a high throughput of up to 114 Kbps in static conditions, and a 1 cm localization accuracy with 1% bit error rate under various camera motions.