The 'ball' supports the police and firefighters

This is a common scenario for police and other emergency workers: they have to enter a building without knowing what is waiting for them inside - a gunman or an earthquake collapse .

To reduce the risk for these people, the US company Bounce Imaging recently created a tennis ball-sized, six-camera, It can send almost instant 360-degree panoramic shots inside, helping police / firefighters gauge the situation before rescue measures are taken.

'Ball Recording' by Bounce Imaging - (Photo: wired.com)

The Bounce Imaging says the device is very soft, just a tenth of the cost of the same type of device. Although still a prototype, the device was honored by Time magazine as one of the best innovations of 2012.

Earlier, many researchers around the world have tried to make similar devices, some have succeeded, others have been abandoned.

Bounce Imaging says the advantages of their device are cheap and easy to use, as camera-recorded images are sent through smartphones that are mounted on the hands of police / firefighters, which are easy to track.

The company also said it had received numerous offers from police, fire departments, mines and industry inspectors, and even photographers specializing in nature photography wanted to explore the ' animals.

'The device has multiple slots for a variety of sensors, from smoke detectors, temperature sensors to methane gas detectors or coal dust ... so it can send out a lot of data with images,' said Francisco Aguilar. - Bounce Imaging founder said, BBC quoted.

However, artificial intelligence and robotics experts say the device can be abused to violate private life, such as possible crimes committed by photographers or criminals thrown into the courts. "to get the images inside ...