Grenade-Style Wireless Camera For Combat

nk497 writes "A new wireless camera called the I-Ball is being developed to be shot into locations using a grenade launcher so troops can see what lies ahead. The I-Ball sends real-time, 360-degree video back to soldiers while it's flying through the air and when it lands."

overkill

Why not just shoot the grenades in there. Then you'll know what lies ahead (bodies).

Re:overkill

...or just add an explosive to it....will be able to see the surprise on their faces before they are blown to bits...

Re:overkill

Make it so that the explosives can be blown after you check the video. If there are a bunch of men with rifles, blow the grenade. If there are women and children, retrieve it.

Re:overkill

What if it is women and or children with rifles?

I think chivalry dictates that you kill them last.

Re:overkill

Didn't you learn anything from Titanic? Women and children first

Hostages, explosives on site...

...sensitive equipment on site, element of surprise, recon mission...
The list is long.

Are you one of those guys that, when playing Counterstrike, chucks grenades inside killing all the hostages and then runs into the room spraying it with bullets, only to be knifed in the head once you run out of ammo?

Re:Hostages, explosives on site...

Oh, so you know who I am. Whats your tag?

Re:overkill

The real problem will come when the first soldier holds a grenade to his face and while everybody says "cheeeese" blows his head off.

Re:overkill

Good idea if it helps to avoid blowing up non-combatants, and useful for knowing where to call in the 500 pound bomb if necessary.

As a general rule, it is always advisable to avoid barbequeing women and children who aren't involved in the fight if it's at all possible to do so. It's counterproductive and feeds the enemy's propaganda machine.

WTF is a bad guy?

It really bothers me to hear an adult use the term "bad guy" to refer to a real person. It seems to be a recent American trend. Bad guys are characters found in silly action films and fairy tales.

Re:WTF is a bad guy?

Don't tell me you don't understand what a "bad guy" is. I'm not going to sit here and argue about what the target actually is. To the fighter on the ground, the target is a bad guy. Why sit here and worry about terminology?

This is one reason, among many, why the American Military does NOT want a return to the draft. They do not want lefty intellectual types who are going to sit there in the middle of fire fight and agonize over whether or not to pull the trigger or, even worse, argue with their officers. In combat soldiers follow orders or they get themselves and their fellow soldiers killed, plain and simple. If someone can't or won't pull the trigger when ordered then they should do themselves and our soldiers a favor and not enlist in the military.

Re:overkill

Next week's headline: US Military invents a grenade with a "Surrender" button. Throw the grenade, and if the enemy wants to surrender, they can simply press the button and the grenade deactivates. Maybe it opens up and dispenses little handcuffs to all of them and a gps showing them where the nearest US POW camp is. That way, they can all cuff themselves and use the GPS to find the nearest surrendering station to check themselves in. Maybe it'll come with a little PDA so they can register their favorite meals and preferred accommodations and check off special needs like "wheelchair accessible", "wake-up call", and "preferred method of torture".

Re:overkill

The number of decimal points is extremely important in determining the validity of your point. The reality is that civilian deaths are far more common than you would have us believe.

Re:overkill

One should never underestimate the ability of militias or irregular fighters to adapt and acquire advanced weapons or technology. For example, the Tamil Tigers Air Force [wikipedia.org] have in recent years surprised and embarrassed the Sri Lankan government by acquiring and modifying several light aircraft for bombing missions. The regular Sri Lankan Air Force and Army, despite being equipped with relatively modern fighter jets and anti-aircraft artillery, have been unable to stop continuing attacks of jury rigged bombers run by a bush league air force.

"Being developed" = "Hey, I got an idea"

From TFA:

âoeWe have overcome some significant technological challenges in developing the I-Ball technology,â said Paul Thompson of Dreampact. âoeAlthough it is in its early stages, we are very excited about the technology's potential to help our troops to be better prepared for battle.â

In other words, "We had an idea, and we've got no idea how to actually implement it, but if the MoD gives us a bunch of money we'll happily spend it."

Maybe the UK MoD is better than the US DoD about not funding projects just because some legislator is owed a favor, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Re:"Being developed" = "Hey, I got an idea"

I'm sure the inventor got the idea after getting caught installing a wireless webcam in a girls gym room.

'what if I could just roll it into the bathroom? Maybe make it look like a softball or something. Oh...oh...and I need to be able to shoot it from far away so if they find it, I'm not caught.'

A no-deposit/no-return drone?

I sure hope these things are less than $100... hell, less than $10 for that matter. I sure as hell don't think we need to waste that kind of money on stuff the enemy might take home as a souvenir.

"Why can't we all just get along?!" I'd rather see research and development dollars spent making war and conflict obsolete.

At the moment, most of the conflict where it is "the world" vs. the U.S.A., seems to be stemming from ridiculous policies that no one can fully explain. Why do we care about the "spread of communism"? Why do we care about "defending Israel"? There are a lot of humanitarian causes far more dire and we leave those tragedies alone with a clear conscience. Can someone tell me why we spend SO much money and so many human lives on "expanding democracy" and "defending Israel"?

Re:A no-deposit/no-return drone?

While the press shakes a finger at the US the actual governments just shake their head in public and behind closed doors are probably glad that it is happening.
Yea you will get some venting on Slashdot about how evil the US is but those people are not in political power.

So as long as we've got US-friendly governments in place, there's no need to worry about popular opinion? Well, I suppose that strategy's never backfired horribly on us before...

Pointless invention.

What, nobody uses Google Earth anymore?

screw warfare - how about BASEBALL

If I was developing a hardened, spherical wireless camera, I'd have many more uses for it than killing people. The entertainment possibilities alone are immense. Hopefully we'll see this deployed on the field of play before the battlefield.

Re:screw warfare - how about BASEBALL

Wow yeah baseball would be good. Is it sad that the first thing I thought of was ladies locker rooms?

same theme, better story:

one-eyed san francisco artist looking for the tech that will allow her to put a webcam in her eye socket:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/11/15/2008-11-15_san_francisco_artist_looks_to_replace_lo.html [nydailynews.com]

Commercial Applications

I see televised golf tournaments becoming much more interesting.

Re:But...

Forget that. I just want to know if it will blend.

Re:Yes, but does it run Linux?

Mod "2005 called they want their memes back."

1976 called and Richard Dawkins wants his meme meme back.