Camera ball.

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Usually, throwing your camera isn't a good idea. But toss this soccer-ball-size camera skyward, and it'll take a 360-degree panoramic photo.

An accelerometer inside the camera measures changes in speed as you throw it (see image, left). A small internal computer then calculates when the camera reaches the highest point in its flight.

When it gets there the ball's 36 mini cameras fire simultaneously. The images they take are put together to create a single photo. "You capture the whole panorama in one go," says computer engineer Jonas Pfeil, who developed the camera as a graduate student at the Technical University of Berlin in Germany.

The device is still a prototype, but Pfeil hopes one day it'll be available for purchase.

TOSS UP:

This boy threw the camera ball.

PROTECTIVE SHELL:

Green foam blocks protect the camera's high-tech parts.

MINI CAMERAS: Thirty-six tiny cameras are set into a strong, flexible nylon material.

MICROCONTROLLER:

A small computer uses data from an accelerometer to determine when to trigger the ball's mini cameras, then stores the resulting college of images.

POWER SOURCE: A battery is secured in a central cage. This helps keep the camera's center of gravity in the middle of the ball so it doesn't wobble when thrown.