Throwable ball camera's potential realized: coming this September

It's been nearly four years since we first reported on the concept for the throwable ball camera – now that vision has become a reality. Our first report on the device now called "Panono" was all the way back in October of 2011 when it was just a dream – it was just "patent pending" back then with a mocked-up ball and a set of sketches that dated back to early 2010. Fast forward to 2015 and the original concept by Jonas Pfeil, Kristian Hildebrand, Carsten Gremzow, Bernd Bickel, and Marc Alexa has come to life.

Now the group that's creating the ball camera is an official company, one that's named after the device itself: Panono. They'll be sending out the first wave of devices to people who crowdfunded the project this September. In addition, a first wave of "Panono Explorer Edition" devices will be available for purchase.

This Explorer Edition of the Panono throwable ball camera is limited to just 1,000 units, and is available for pre-order right this minute. Shipment of this device is also estimated for September of this year.

Above you'll see an example of a photo taken with an early-software version of Panono. Below you'll see "the complete set of parts" going into the Panono Explorer Edition.

Several big-name companies like Universal Music Germany, BMW, and Lufthansa are "already using the Panono camera." We've reached out to Panono to clarify how these companies are making use of the ball camera.

UPDATE: According to Panono, "All shootings for our cooperation partners were carried out by our team, we used the camera protoypes for this. The partners then have used the pictures taken in different ways, some for online communication purposes, some for event documentation, some for exhibition fairs."

At this time the Panono Explorer Edition will cost you a cool 1499-euro – that's around $1,656 USD at the time this article is published. Below you'll see a video explaining what Panono in its current form is all about.

Check the timeline below for more bits and pieces – hands-on, news, and interviews with Panono's creators!

VIA: Panono