Camera sees in all directions at once

Problem: Have you ever wanted eyes in the back of your head as well as in front? All potential ‘prey’ animals have eyes on the sides of their heads to see potential threats coming from as near to 360º as possible. Unfortunately, humans and the vast majority of surveillance camera systems are unable to follow suit. Solution: A company called EGG Solution Optronics, based in Paris, has launched a video surveillance camera which points upwards at a cusp shaped mirror and continually produces two 180º linear images above each other on a screen. Nobody is claiming that this is the first time that a camera has been used to view in this way, but the clever bit is the way the electronics turn the circular image from the camera into panoramic views at high resolution in real-time without needing a PC. Application: EGG’s DOVE, standing for Digital Omni-directional Video Eye, has a 1024 x 1024 10-bit video capture resolution and produces analogue Y/C, CVBS outputs and real-time MPEG-2 encoding, including TCP/IP connectivity. Power requirements are 12VDC, 10W and cameras can be supplied weatherproof if required. Should anyone wish to capture 360ºx360º (spherical) images, it is possible to do this, too, by mounting a camera and mirror horizontally and then rotating the combination. Such a technique is offered as a packaged product by the Massachusetts-based company, RemoteReality TS Egg Solution Optronics Remote Reality