ThrowablePanoramicBallCamera
Latest
Squito throwable camera prototyped, search and rescue a fastball away
The last time we ran down the sidewalk while throwing a camera, it turned into a pile of dust. Inventor Steve Hollinger's looking to fix that with the Squito. Hollinger's latest patent for a throwable camera piggybacks onto the one he filed three years ago, bringing detailed usage and a functional prototype along for the ride. The description was vague and unwieldy before, but now the Squito is detailed as a "ball with camera and trajectory control for reconnaissance or recreation." It looks much better than the last panoramic ball camera we saw, too. The video after the break demos the test unit's dramatic possibilities, and we'd be lying if what we saw didn't excite us. When was the last time you watched a video with wireless infrared, kitty rescue and 3D mapping anyhow?
Panoramic ball camera gives a full 360-view of you nervously throwing it in the air (video)
Yes, it isn't the first ball camera we've seen, nor is it the first camera to hawk 360-degree panoramas. But, the Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera marries these two concepts together, and packs them into a sturdy-looking sphere made mostly of foam. This shields the 36 fixed-focus phone camera modules, each capable of taking two megapixel snapshots. These are then stitched together to create full panoramic works like the shot above. Somewhere within that squishy core is an accelerometer to measure the apex of its flight, and where the camera array will capture its image. The big question is, can it survive a few rounds of keepie-uppie? You can take a closer look at the ball camera's 36 x two megapixel images in the video below. Now, do you think there's any chance of getting one for the next Engadget meet-up?
