A new “throwable tactical camera” is set to hit the market soon, which will greatly reduce the risks of entering unknown rooms on the job. Designed by Boston company Bounce Imaging, the rubber-coated sphere features six lenses which will work in unison for the primary goal of assisting police officers and emergency crews to know what’s happening through the next door or collapsed structure.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The user tosses the grenade-like tactical camera into an unknown space, and the ball will reveal all occupants, armed or not, without putting anyone involved in unnecessary danger. The sphere’s visual feeds can be wirelessly activated and surveilled via smartphone.
Once activated, the ball assembles a virtual reconstruction of the room in a panoramic style, and creates a simple interface on the user’s smartphone. So far 100 cameras are to be purchased by police departments across the nation.
BUT IS IT FINANCIALLY FEASIBLE?
The basic model is going for $1,500, and the tactical model for $2,500. The former has only LED lights to shed light on dark spaces, while the latter sports additional infrared LEDs. This is the tactical camera’s first tour of the market.
IS IT DURABLE AND RELIABLE?
The ball’s camera life is thirty minutes. The “Explorer” was designed for law enforcement and rescue operations, but there is also a military model dubbed the “Throwbot,” which has many tactical cameras, can be thrown, and also has remotely-controlled wheels. Interestingly, the throwbot has a microphone interface. This might assist hostage or other situations requiring negotiation or rescue-oriented instruction.
The Explorer, however, cannot move on its own, but it can still be used by rescue crews to access collapsed buildings which may contain unreachable victims. In addition, Police and SWAT teams will have an alternative to stun grenades, using the small tactical camera to reduce the likelihood of collateral damage.
HOW A TACTICAL CAMERA CAN SAVE LIVES
In a Georgia SWAT team raid a year ago, a 19-month-old toddler was critically injured when a flash-bang grenade exploded on the toddler’s pillow. Such accidental losses are inexcusable.
The makers of Explorer have stated that their tactical camera was specifically designed to prevent civilian deaths or critical injury. It takes many pictures from every lens every single second, then it converts the images for a smartphone or tablet, and then constructs a panoramic view of the unknown space beyond. The Explorer’s engineers intend to improve functionality by adding sensors for radiation and carbon monoxide.
OFFICIAL PUBLIC RECOGNITION
The idea was born shortly after the Haiti earthquake of 2010, during which rescue crews had many problems locating victims trapped in city ruins before it was too late, despite the use of fiber optic cables.
Time Magazine and the BBC dubbed the Explorer the best invention of 2012.
