A scalable system for the monitoring of video transmission components in delay-sensitive networked applications

The paper addresses the issue of measuring the end-to-end video delay due to the grabbing, display, and transmission components in networked video communication. We discuss the design and implementation of a scalable tool for the analysis and design of applications involving video based networked interaction or teleoperation, such as remotely operated devices and collaborative environments. The tool is intended for providing an accurate measure of the video lag involved in the encoding and streaming of video over packet networks, and for assessing the impact that delays in the video communication has in terms of human performance. The system is demonstrated through two different tasks: first, the measurement of video end-to-end delay for different networking configurations. Then, a visuomotor experiment is reported in which a subject is requested to accomplish a remote control task by using delayed video feedback, under different delay conditions.