Throwable Camera (Bounce Imaging Explorer)

Bounce Imaging Explorer is a throwable camera is a new invention, that can save lives, and also help police officers in a hostage situation, aggressive shooters or terrorism. It is spherical in shape and has many eyes (I mean cameras) so it is easily thrown and can roll. The idea for this invention first came when an MIT graduate, Francisco Aguilar saw the need to design something that could help in emergency response situations around the world.

The device Aguilar created is called the Bounce Imaging Explorer, it is a small black probe about the size of a baseball, fixed with an array of sensors and cameras that can be thrown or dropped into dangerous environments. He said, and i quote

"The initial thought was, how could we create something that was easy to use, that could allow a first respondent, or even a volunteer, to easily look inside a space to determine whether it was safe to enter it, to see if there was a victim inside," Aguilar says. "And that moved from search and rescue, to police who often face hostage situations: aggressive shooters, or terrorism. To fire fighting applications, where people often want to search different rooms in a complex, before having to enter or decide whether there is a fire or not. So there's a common problem across first respondents of having to decide whether to enter a house or a space. And we are trying to make it cheap and easy to get images while they are out of there."

This project was carried out by Francisco Aguilar and David Young a former military officer and entrepreneur.

The impact resistant shell can also house heat sensors, Geiger counters, vibration antennae or smoke detectors to provide different information in different kinds of emergencies, such as natural disasters or SWAT team hostage rescues. The ball then broadcasts its findings back to a mobile device to give users information on whether there are hazards (or indeed survivors) around a corner, or buried beneath fallen debris. The project is still going on and it should cost between $500 to $1000.