Methods and system for simulated 3D videoconferencing

A continuous presence videoconferencing apparatus, comprising:

• a first plurality of cameras, arranged in an arc located in a horizontal plane above a video display to capture image data corresponding to a conferee during a video conference, each camera of the first plurality of cameras configured to create a video stream;
• and
• an endpoint configured to compress each video stream created by the first plurality of cameras into a first single multi-view video stream, the endpoint further configured to receive a second multi-view video stream from a remote endpoint, the second multi-view video stream including a plurality of compressed video streams having originated at a second plurality of cameras at the remote endpoint;
• a point-of-view detector configured to determine a gaze direction of the conferee relative to the video display based on the image data captured by one or more of the first plurality of cameras;
• and
• an editor, communicatively coupled to the point-of-view detector, the editor configured to build an image responsive to the gaze direction of the conferee and cause the video display to display the image, wherein building an image responsive to the gaze direction of the conferee comprises selecting one of the compressed video streams within the second multi-view video stream received from the remote endpoint in correspondence to the gaze direction of the conferee relative to the video display.