'TeleHuman' uses Kinect for 3D holographic chat, bumps up options for contacting Obi-Wan (video)

Looks like virtual Tupac might have some company. With Kinect, you are the hologram. Besides logging in lots of quality time at a South Korean theme park, the Kinect is now doing double duty at the Human Media Lab of Queen's University in Canada thanks to a 3D holographic chat system called "TeleHuman." The setup basically creates a life-size rendering of its subject by using six Kinect sensors, a 3D projector and a cylindrical display. This allows the viewer to walk around the cylinder for a 360-degree view of the subject, giving new meaning to having someone's back during a chat. The director of the Human Media Lab says the TeleHuman could be available for $5,000 within five years. In the meantime, the tech is also being used by the research team to create a 3D anatomical model browser called the "BodiPod." The BodiPod can display various layers of the human body, which can be virtually peeled off as the viewer gets closer to the display. Check out all the 3D action for the TeleHuman and BodiPod in plain, old 2D by viewing the video after the break.