Researchers at Canada’s Queens University Human Media Lab have created a device called the Telepod, a 3D cylindrical display that is capable of a very different sort of teleconferencing.

The display is constructed from 6 Kinect sensors, a convex mirror, an acrylic cylinder and a 3D projector stashed in the base of the Telepod and enables a three-dimensional view of someone in a remote location, similar to a hologram. This otherwise unremarkable teleconferencing application, called TeleHuman, allows users to walk around and get a full view of whoever is on the other end.

The researchers have also used to the Telepod for a medically-oriented purpose they call BodiPod. This seems to be a potential teaching aid and has an anatomical model displayed on the Telepod. Users are able to interact with the model through gestures and voice commands, stripping away skin, muscles and organs to get a labelled 360 degree view of the human body.

You can see the Telepod in action here. By the looks of things it is mostly hampered by the hardware limitations of the Kinect sensors.

Source: core77