We present a novel, real-time disparity analysis frame work developed for immersive tele-conferencing. This two-stage method computes a limited number of highly reliable disparities in the first step and then, filling the remaining holes based on segmentation information. The disparity algorithm is a hybrid recursive matching (HRM) approach. Its computational effort is minimised by the efficient selection of a small number of candidate vectors, guaranteeing both spatial and temporal consistency of disparities. In order to improve the disparity fields in the case of occlusions, a segmentation-based postprocessing is applied. The teleconferencing application requires video processing at ITU-Rec. 601 resolution. In the current version, the algorithm generates disparity maps in real time for both directions (Left-to-Right and Right-to-Left) on a Pentium III, 800 MHz processor.
