Pixiq

As part of his diploma thesis, German student, Jonas Pfeil created the Throwable 360˚panoramic ball camera. It looks like a soccer ball but is filled with dozens of cell phone camera modules, that can produce a true and instantaneous 360˚spherical image of the world. 

There were many problems that had to be solved to build the ball camera. The basic issue with other attempts at 360˚panoramic photos has been that they depended upon stitching together precisely separated individual frames, frames often taken one after another. This time differential introduced problems with moving objects that could be visible in two or more positions in the final picture. Additionally, the process itself simply took several minutes and that introduced other issues like changing light conditions and changes in the scene. The process also called for a lot of precise manual effort, moving the camera into the proper orientation for each image. 

Even the tripod that the camera was placed on introduces a problem, as Pfeil puts it,

“It is also difficult to obtain a full spherical panorama, because the downward picture cannot be captured while the camera is mounted on the tripod.” 

Pfeil came up with the ingenious approach of making around camera that could be thrown into the air. No tripod is needed. The ball camera uses 36 fixed-focus 2 megapixel mobile phone camera modules mounted in a 3D-printed, ball-shaped enclosure that is padded with foam. It looks and handles like a normal soccer ball. To use it you just toss it high into the air. The ball camera has a built in accelerometer which measures launch acceleration and lets the ground crew predict time to the apex of the throw. Just as the ball stops rising and begins to fall, it is motionless in the air for a second and at this moment the spherical image is taken.  

Then the ball is caught normally in tow hands and the images downloaded and viewed on a special spherical image viewer. You can see these wonderful images for yourself at YouTube, just type in the Search line--Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera. 

The Throwable 360˚ Panoramic Ball Camera will be presented at the Emerging Technologies demonstration at SIGGRAPH Asia 2011. Pfeil worked on this project with Kristian Hildebrand, Carsten Gremzow, Bernd Bickel, Marc Alexa and had the help of the Computer Graphics Group, TU Berlin. 

The 360˚ images produced by the Ball Camera are fascinating and as Pfeil says, 

“We used the camera to capture full spherical panoramas at scenic spots, in a crowded city square and in the middle of a group of people taking turns in throwing the camera. Above all we found that it is a very enjoyable, playful way to take pictures.” 

You can’t buy a Ball Camera yet, Pfeil is looking for a partner or investor to get the Throwable Ball Camera project off the ground. If you’ve got some money to invest why not contact him at http://jonaspfeil.de/ballcamera and toss this idea around.