You iBalling me, soldier?
By Rory Reynolds
Have you ever wondered what might be lurking around the next corner? Well, one Edinburgh company has found the answer. It’s called the iBall – but it’s not the latest Apple gadget. It’s a military-grade field device for British special forces – including the SAS.
Electronics company Dreampact, which has just three staff, has won a contract from the Ministry of Defence to supply the iBall to British troops.
The iBall is a futuristic surveillance device that wouldn't be out of place in the Mission Impossible movies
The team’s innovative idea for a camera fixed inside in a protective ball captured the imagination of the judges and took the plan from to drawing board into the field.
Once completed, the iBall may be used in combat situations in Iraq or Afghanistan, or by elite British anti-terror squads .
The iBall, which is roughly the size of a cricket ball, is intended to be thrown into rooms before special forces storm in, or even fired from a grenade launcher through windows or doors. The camera inside then immediately stabilises itself within the ball and relays high quality pictures to the assault team outside.
Paul Thompson, company director, says the design freedom that the MoD gave them led to this wacky idea.
“We entered the Ministry of Defence’s Competition of Ideas and you pretty much had a blank sheet of paper, so you suggested an idea, they showed it to their top guys and if they liked it they funded it.
“It was very exciting, its not often you get the chance to develop something you’ve thought of yourselves. After we were selected we managed to get on the BBC News website and after that we had an awful lot of interest, emails from all over the world.
The iBall echoes the kind of futuristic devices used by Tom Cruise in the blockbuster Mission Impossible series, in which Cruise’s character bounces a camera ball down a corridor to get the drop on unsuspecting terrorists.
Paul added: “At the minute we’re looking at means of getting it into production and how to develop it further. As far as the electronics go we’re happy but we might need a bit of help designing the exterior. We normally design circuit boards and act as consultants for various firms, so we might need some assistance to develop a hard-wearing, rugged exterior, fit for the battlefield.
