Minoru is the worlds first consumer 3D webcam
“Meet Minoru, meaning ‘Reality’ in Japanese, the World's 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 or even shoot 3D videos and upload them to YouTube.
Minoru = Reality!
Minoru connects easily to your PC’s USB port just like any other webcam but that’s 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 free with Minoru). Minoru can also be used as a standard 2D webcam for anyone who doesn’t have the 3D glasses at hand.
Minoru will appeal equally to the 3D novice and the stereoscopy enthusiast alike.
New 3D modes are being supported all the time such as 'Side by Side' and new 'Row Interlaced' mode, see the 'Download & Support' page for details.
Row Interlaced/Interleaved mode also compatible with 3D monitors from Zalman, Hyundai, Miracube and JVC
Minoru is available now from major electronics retailers in the UK, EU and USA.
Latest news and developments from novo
'Heroes of She' 3D Music Video
Date posted: Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Upcoming band 'Heroes of She' have used a Minoru 3D Webcam to record what they believe to be the first 3D band video on YouTube. Have a look and listen using the player above. I'm sure you will agree that it's a great use for Minoru.
Heroes of She's Hammond organ player, James Mackie:
“Making the video was timely, especially with all the publicity surrounding the upcoming release of James Cameron’s 3D blockbuster ‘Avatar’. People are saying that Hollywood studio executives are now considering mothballing their conventional productions to chase after the illusion of depth you get with 3D.”
The 3D format also chimes with the Lancaster-based band’s retro, pre-Space Age, Hammer House of Horror image. The previous ‘golden age’ of 3D cinema, in the 1950s, saw the release of films such as House of Wax, starring Vincent Price, Inferno and Robot Monster.
Singer Helen Longworth, who with Amy Worth, is one of the band’s two vocalists, said:
“We wanted to capture the massive energy of our live performances. The illusion that 3D creates of us coming straight out of the screen is a great way to do this. Amy and I were really singing during the filming as well - often in music videos the true energy of a vocal performance is ignored in favour of looking airbrushed and posed. We treated the shoot as if it was a live gig.”
www.heroesofshe.com , www.myspace.com/heroesofshe
Minoru enters the World of Robotics
Date posted: Monday, 15 June 2009
Minoru has found his way into the World of Robotics.
Some software has recently been written which can be used to turn the Minoru
webcam into an inexpensive ranging sensor. This could be used on any robot
with an onboard PC of one kind or another (such as a netbook), and should
perform well ...
http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/showthread.php?t=3358
http://code.google.com/p/sentience/wiki/MinoruWebcam
The Minoru is the first commercially available stereo webcam. It's primarily intended for entertainment - broadcasting stereo anaglyphs as a novel alternative to the usual webcam based video conferencing or blogging. However, it also makes a good inexpensive range sensor for robotics use.
Minoru and OpenCV
Date posted: Monday, 15 June 2009
Researchers at the Nagoya Institute of Technology have been carrying out some work in the field of computer vision using Minoru and OpenCV.
http://nma.web.nitech.ac.jp/fukushima/minoru/minoru3D-e.html
OpenCV is a computer vision library originally developed by Intel. It is free for commercial and research use under a BSD license. The library is cross-platform, and runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, PSP, VCRT (Real-Time OS on Smart camera) and other embedded devices. It focuses mainly on real-time image processing, as such, if it finds Intel's Integrated Performance Primitives on the system, it will use these commercial optimized routines to accelerate itself.
Released under the terms of the BSD license, OpenCV is open source software.
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