A Queen's University researcher has created a Star Trek-like
human-scale 3D videoconferencing pod that allows people in
different locations to video conference as if they are standing
in front of each other. "Why Skype when you can talk to a life-
size 3D holographic image of another person?" says professor
Roel Vertegaal, director of the Human Media Lab. The technology
Dr. Vertegaal and researchers at the Queen's Human Media Lab
have developed is called TeleHuman and looks like something from
the Star Trek holodeck. Two people simply stand infront of their
own life-size cylindrical pods and talks to a 3D hologram-like
images of each other. Cameras capture and track 3D video and
convert into the life-size image. Since the 3D video image is
visible 360 degrees around the Pod, the person can walk around
it to see the other person's side or back. While the technology
may seem like it comes from a galaxy far, far away, it's not as
complicated as most would think. Dr. Vertegaal and his team used
mostly existing har