[Philip Lelyveld comment; This could be extraordinarily important research. It both constrains and opens up new story-telling possibilities.]
Scientists at Carnegie Melon University in Pittsburgh have done it with a system reminiscent of the 360-degree cameras used to film the "bullet time" sequences in The Matrix. The new technique utilizes enormous spherical dome called the Panoptic Studio, which is outfitted with 480 video cameras pointing inward. The cameras track the movement of any people or objects in the center of the dome — even something as diffuse as confetti floating from the ceiling — in extraordinary detail.