Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2010

Courtesy of Megahouse

Liven up your web chats with this 3D webcam, which comes housed in a dinky desk-bot. Forget Avatar-style trickery: this is a strictly old-school affair, filming simultaneously with two cameras to create a stereoscopic image that can be enjoyed through a pair of retro red-and-green specs. You can also get some nifty results with the camera’s 2D function: the bundled software allows you to add cool frames, cat ears, snow and other trippy effects to your live feed, turning a humdrum Skype session into a print-club-in-motion.

3D/2D Webcam, ¥7,980. Available from Thanko: 3-14-8 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku. Tel: 03-5297-5783. Open Mon-Sat 11am-8pm, Sun & hols 11am-7pm. Nearest stn: Akihabara or Suehirocho.