This idea (a throwable ball with imaging and other sensors) and several prototypes have appeared on HN before, the first one around 2 years ago. This exact prod

This idea (a throwable ball with imaging and other sensors) and several prototypes have appeared on HN before, the first one around 2 years ago. This exact product has reached the HN front page in the beginning of 2013 [1]. I find it strange that none of the prototypes have actually managed to reach a production stage, given that the potential market - military, LE, emergency responders is (supposedly) there. Maybe the price point doesn't make much sense, given the usual (low) prices for fixed-focus camera modules - there is no need for very high resolution here, and the balls better be semi-disposable. There are a few other designs (and patents associated with the concept) - [2], [3] and [4]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4757971 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4757971 [2] http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/01/21/surveillance-camera-ball/0iVRWJaRIlEGoQt9qRP04L/story.html http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/01/21/surveillance-... [3] http://www.serveball.com/ http://www.serveball.com/ [4] http://jonaspfeil.de/ballcamera http://jonaspfeil.de/ballcamera (and HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3109899 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3109899)