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The philosophy behind this unique concept
was inspired by Tom’s experiences travelling and through
witnessing a number of incredible vistas where his conventional
35mm camera just didn’t have the scope to capture the
full picture. His ordinary camera restricted his ability to
truthfully and naturally capture scenes, events and experiences
because of its invasive, blinkered and subjective style.
“I wanted to develop an alternative image capture device,
which was not bound by a frame and instead could shoot a complete
cyclorama. The product had to be affordable, easy-to-use, operated
by one hand and capture high quality MegaPixel ‘bubble’
images in a single-shot”. |
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Top image - Tom in 2000 standing on top
of Lion’s Head in Cape Town, South Africa. This was where
Tom found the inspiration for his first invention, WakeYoo®
the recordable alarm clock, while he was working as a VR Simulation
Engineer, as part of his university degree. Tom returned to
Cape Town three years later, once his invention was a commercial
success, where he witnessed a mind-opening astrological phenomenon.
He awoke in the dead of the night to discover that the full
moon had projected itself onto the centre of his chest. Initially
confused, he did some research and concluded that he had not
experienced a lunar projection, but rather had become the target
of a naturally occurring pin-hole-camera, where an imperfection
in the glass window to his side had caused the moon to become
projected. This started a ball rolling in Tom’s head and
he began to think about photography.
Above image - Tom in 2002 with the Moonman, his artistic interpretation
of his product vision for BubbleScope®.
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In April 2000, Tom Lawton, a
young product designer from Wiltshire, England was travelling
through India in search of the inspiration for his next invention.
Tom recalls...
“I was sitting on the floor of
a train, day dreaming out of the open carriage doorway, I had
the best seat, but the doorway around me was crowded with half
a dozen faces, all smiling and looking into the horizon. I was
travelling south on a two day, non-stop journey through India,
when I experienced the most awe-inspiring view. The sun was
setting over the distant mountains, the moon was full and was
being reflected in a lake below and the sky had become cast
with a magical purple hue of light. I thought of my mother.
I wanted to capture this very special experience, bottle it
and send it back to her. My camera was blinkered and we were
moving along at speed. If only I could freeze time in every
direction - like a bubble - and share it with her. This was
when I realised what I must invent next.” |
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When Tom returned to the UK, he returned
with a mission to develop an affordable, handheld 360º
panoramic digital camera, which enabled people with no technical
expertise to capture an image of the entire scene surrounding
them in an instant. But how?
Tom had no previous experience developing cameras or optical
systems but he was keen and quick to learn and soon became immersed
into several month’s of research, as he bought himself
up to speed on the state of th e art of omni-directional imaging
and associated VR technologies. It was apparent from the start
of the project that the idea of capturing a 360° field-of-view
was not unique to Tom. Numerous companies, academic institutions
and research agencies had made a great deal of ground in the
field of omni-directional imaging.
In fact, since the advent of photography in the late 1800’s,
scientists, engineers and photographers have developed a wide
variety of techniques for capturing a 360° panoramic field-of-view.
None however, were suited to application in a compact handheld
device, which could be used by a person with little or no technical
expertise. While there are numerous examples of 360° imagery
on the Internet, often referred to as Virtual Tours, the actual
process of creating a 360° image is overly complicated,
requiring expensive and cumbersome equipment.
360° and VR imaging are areas of specialist expertise -
its applications usually confined to the industries of real
estate, tourism and surveillance, where clients are happy to
pay a premium for multimedia professionals to compose, process
and publish such images on the web. |
So Tom began his own technical
development. The first concept,
called ‘ic3sixty’ comprised of an elaborate system
using a radial array of multiple cameras, which faced outwards.
While the components for this system were easily attainable
and did not require a custom optical design (an area which Tom
found extremely complex) this concept proved to be impractical
and a little overkill.
Later concepts included the ‘BubbleFish’, which
used two back-to-back fisheye lenses to create a full spherical
field-of-view, and original concepts using the principals of
existing technologies, such as a panoramic annular lens, a panoramic
refracting optic, a catadioptic omni-directional lens system
and the use of parabolic mirrors. For one reason of another
it seemed that none of these systems were suitable for application
in a single-shot, miniature, low-cost product with the field-of-view
that Tom wanted to achieve. |
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Tom had quickly became familiar
with Apple’s QuickTime VR, which was already established
as an industry standard for viewing ‘immersive’
360° panoramas on the Internet. This became the chosen platform
for viewing bubble images, but it didn’t overcome the
problems associated with capturing such an image in the first
place.
Over the course of the next couple of years, what had began
as an independent self-funded research programme grew to involve
leading telecommunications innovators, university experts, the
optical design division of the BAE Systems and the analysis
of some conceptual NASA patents. Tom had still not found an
appropriate optical solution.
Finally, in the spring of 2004, Tom teamed up with VR Interactive
of Canada, who were innovators in 360º panoramic &
VR imaging, and had developed core technologies using a torodial
360º reflector, which they were confident could be miniaturised
to achieve the miniature |
design essential for BubbleScope’s
handheld and compact use, together with the desired wide vertical
field-of-view requirements and their technology had the potential
to be mass manufactured at the affordable price point expected
by today’s electronics consumers, whilst importantly,
also capturing a high quality image.
BubbleScope Ltd was formed in the summer of 2004 and with investment
from a supportive group of friends and family, Tom immediately
undertook a proof of concept programme to miniaturise VRI’s
technology. This programme was successful and the first BubbleScope®
demonstrator was completed in the spring of 2005. In tandem
to this Tom had also forged a strategic relationship with manufacturing
partners IDT, Hong Kong. Now, following extensive productionisation
and marketing studies, the first generation BubbleScope®
product is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2006. Tom is
optimistic as to how far his idea might grow.
As for being world changing? Well, dreams can come true. |
The Evolution of the
BubbleScope®
If you’re interested in learning more, then use the following
link to download a .PDF comprising of a collage of Tom’s
design and development work, including early sketches, ideas,
images and illustrations.
Download ‘The Evolution of the BubbleScope®’
(Approx. 15Mb) |
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How
it works?
