Minoru 3D Webcam (Red/Chrome)

by TRUSTIN

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001NXDGFY
• Item model number: MINORU
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 16, 2008

Product Description

Meet Minoru, meaning Reality in Japanese, the Worlds first 3D webcam. Connect Minoru to your PC and he will come alive, his eyes will light up and he will be looking at you in 3D. Your friends and family can now see you in 3D over your favourite messaging program like Windows Live Messenger, Skype, AOL instant messenger, OoVoo and many others. You can also take 3D photos to send to your friends or upload to photo sharing sites, or even shoot 3D videos and upload them to YouTube or other video sharing sites. Minoru = Reality! Minoru connects easily to your PCs USB port just like any other webcam but thats where the similarities end. The Minoru software has stereoscopic anaglyphic processing that lets you be seen in three dimensions. The red and cyan anaglyph image produced by Minoru can be viewed by anybody who is wearing commonly available red and cyan 3D glasses (five pairs included with Minoru). Minoru can also be used as a standard 2D webcam for anyone who doesnt have the 3D glasses at hand. There is also a Picture in Picture function allowing you to show the images shown to Minorus 2 eyes separately. Minoru is just fun!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It works, but is a little blurry, January 18, 2009

By 

Kerton (Pleasanton, US, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Minoru 3D Webcam (Red/Chrome) (Personal Computers)

I don't have a lot to say, since I only tried this cam briefly at the CES 2009 show where they were launched. But since there are no other reviews, I figure I could help you some.

These devices DID work, but the image is not crystal clear. It reminds me a lot of those old 3D movies, like Creature From The Black Lagoon. People need to wear the goofy two color 3D glasses to see the image, and it still looks blurry...but it IS 3D, which is cool.

I'm going to buy one for the novelty of it, but certainly won't make it my main USB camera. I love the top of the line Logitechs, and they offer such a good image over Skype that anyone can see, not just people with special glasses. If you just want a great image, I highly recommend the Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 - it's worth the price.

If you are interested in 3D fun, go for this one. And don't forget that it can also run just one camera and send a normal 2D image.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It Actually Works as Advertised, August 7, 2009

By 

HPRC R&D (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Minoru 3D Webcam (Red/Chrome) (Personal Computers)

Yes, it is terribly cute. Yes, the amuzing little arms and legs don't really let it cling to a monitor very well (that's why duct tape was invented). But the thing actually works properly!

All one needs to remember is REMOVE any other camera drivers/applications and then reboot BEFORE installing the drivers and software for this. Also, the CD that ships with it has a down-level driver, don't even bother with it. Just download the current software from their web site and all will be good.

We are using it for machine vision applications and have found that the optics are adequate for most "normal" uses and that cameras work as advertised. It works properly with the universal camera capture routines in OpenCV and does everything the Microsoft generic camera driver needs. If it falls to the floor (remember the funny arms/legs thing) it won't break.

Besides the arms/legs, the only negative points are the physical tightness of the focus rings (a bit hard to turn) and up/down tilt is hard because it will fall off whatever it's trying to hang on to.

If the manufacturer could put powered pan and tilt on it for a reasonable price it would be really good.

Yes, we're buying more of them.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works as advertised, but has quirks, March 24, 2009

By 

T. M. Gil - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Minoru 3D Webcam (Red/Chrome) (Personal Computers)

I've played with the Minoru 3D Webcam for a few hours now. On the upside: it works pretty much as advertised. The quality is what one would expect from two combined webcams that cost $45 each.

It has some downsides too, none of which disqualify the product, but they add up.

1. It crashed my computer the first time after I installed the software, but it's working smoothly since then.

2. Calibrating the cameras is non-trivial. If you follow the instructions from the user manual, the image will not look good. You may end up seeing 3D, but there will be shadow copies of everything in the image. The manual tells you to overlap the images during the horizontal calibration. I found it actually works a lot better when you don't. The shadow images went away after I tried a few rounds of calibration.

3. You (or whoever is looking at you) needs to take a step away from the screen to see 3D. When you sit too close to the screen your eyes and brain won't "switch" to 3D. This isn't necessarily the fault of the product itself, but it affects my willingness to subject other people to the experience. They will have to sit an awkward distance away from their display.

4. Support seems absent. The minoru website seems to target distributors more than customers. As opposed to what is printed on the inside of the glasses (of which you get 5), you cannot order more of them on the minoru website. Amazon sells---unrelated to minoru---red/cyan 3D glasses separately.

Overall, it's a fun little toy, but don't expect the kind of experience you get in a 3D movie. For regular webcam use, I expect to switch back to my normal 2D webcam soon.