Most of us might want to throw our camera only when we
just missed the perfect shot. But this new gadget is geared toward
saving lives by letting users like firefighters, soldiers and police do
just that.
The Bounce Imaging Explorer packs six cameras into a rubber orb the size of a baseball, along with a Wi-Fi transmitter and sensors to detect things like temperature and air quality. It also contains a microphone to transmit audio.
The Explorer’s design allows users to throw it into an area that for safety reasons they’d rather not enter themselves. The data it picks up can be beamed back to the user via a smartphone or tablet.
So for example, soldiers in battle or police in pursuit of an armed suspect could use it to scout out an enclosed space before getting in harm’s way. Disaster responders could toss it into earthquake rubble to look for survivors. Firefighters could find out how hot, or smoke-filled, a building is before they enter.
The Explorer is the brainchild of MIT and Harvard graduate Francisco Aguilar, who thought it up after the Haiti earthquake in 2010. He teamed up with former Army Ranger and fellow MIT grad David Young to form Bounce.
Other technologies, like fiber optics and even robots, already exist to perform similar functions. But the folks at Bounce argue that they’re too expensive for most first responders -- particularly police and firefighters with tight budgets.
No release date has been announced for the product, which its creators still describe as a prototype. Prices for the ball are expected to start at about $1,000 and range up to $3,000 for a more advanced military version.
Source: www.cnn.com
Excited?!! Leave your comment...
The Bounce Imaging Explorer packs six cameras into a rubber orb the size of a baseball, along with a Wi-Fi transmitter and sensors to detect things like temperature and air quality. It also contains a microphone to transmit audio.
The Explorer’s design allows users to throw it into an area that for safety reasons they’d rather not enter themselves. The data it picks up can be beamed back to the user via a smartphone or tablet.
So for example, soldiers in battle or police in pursuit of an armed suspect could use it to scout out an enclosed space before getting in harm’s way. Disaster responders could toss it into earthquake rubble to look for survivors. Firefighters could find out how hot, or smoke-filled, a building is before they enter.
The Explorer is the brainchild of MIT and Harvard graduate Francisco Aguilar, who thought it up after the Haiti earthquake in 2010. He teamed up with former Army Ranger and fellow MIT grad David Young to form Bounce.
Other technologies, like fiber optics and even robots, already exist to perform similar functions. But the folks at Bounce argue that they’re too expensive for most first responders -- particularly police and firefighters with tight budgets.
No release date has been announced for the product, which its creators still describe as a prototype. Prices for the ball are expected to start at about $1,000 and range up to $3,000 for a more advanced military version.
Source: www.cnn.com
Excited?!! Leave your comment...
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