Summary Camera ball could be new tool for police and firefighters.
(Web Desk) - Police and fire-fighters may soon have a new tool for assessing dangerous situations before taking action.
Boston company, 'Bounce Imaging' have developed a camera-ball designed to be tossed into a room where it can detect and transmit real-time information about an unfolding crisis.
Bounce Imaging’s device is expected to a weigh half a pound to a pound with a battery inside. It includes six wide-angle cameras that are each surrounded by an infrared LED flash. An external casing protects the components from being crushed on impact and allows the device to bounce.
The cameras can snap pictures every second or half-second, depending on the device’s settings; six pictures will give a full 360-degree view of the scene. An accelerometer and gyroscope help orient images, which are sent wirelessly to an Android-running smartphone or tablet where software stitches the images together.
