Throwable ball camera | 360 degree panoramic photos | Jonas Pfeil

Young German computer engineer Jonas Pfeil has invented a very clever 360-degree panoramic camera, contained in a ball. Gimmick or godsend?

Camera technology has come on in such leaps and bounds over the past few decades that some people believe true photographic skill has been lost. While there’s no denying it’s easier than ever to take a decent photo, any advancement that allows people to be more creative with photography can only be a good thing. Which is why this so-called throwable panoramic ball camera should be welcomed with open arms.

"any advancement that allows people to be more creative with photography can only be a good thing"

Truly mobile megapixels

The brainchild of Jonas Pfeil, a recent graduate of Berlin’s Technische Universtität, the genius little device allows users to take 360-degree photos in mid-air. How? Simple: throwing the camera ball up into the air ‘wakes it up’ and primes it for shutter release. When the ball reaches its highest point, the shutters are released and take a panoramic snapshot. The invention – currently patent-pending – was the product of Jonas’ diploma thesis in 2010.

The ball comprises 36 cameras housed within a protective cage, padded with shock-absorbing foam. Each camera is a fixed-focus, 2-megapixel module – the same type used in mobile phones – mounted all around the ball to allow a composite view that can record the entire surroundings of the ball. An accelerometer – the motion sensor that iPhones helped to bring to prominence – inside the ball predicts how long it will take to reach its highest point, based on the it’s weight and speed, and tells the camera to capture an image at that zenith.

Panoramic results

The images from each of the 36 cameras are stitched together into one picture, which can be downloaded straight away via USB. A clever spherical panoramic viewing application opens the image for viewing on a computer, and then zooming functions allow the picture to be fully explored. While this isn’t the first time panoramic photography has been offered up to the public domain – think Google Earth’s 360-degree street view shots – it’s the first time it’s been designed for personal use.

The possibilities are manifold and exciting. The makers are currently looking for investors, so hopefully this innovative piece of kit sees the light of day soon. For now, check out this video showing how the camera works and what sort of results it produces.