Tom’s BubbleBlog provides an up
to date catalogue of single-shot 360° panoramic images
from Tom’s adventures around the planet. All images
are captured with Tom’s extraordinary invention -
the BubbleScope®, which is the world’s first handheld
360° digital camera for personal panoramic imaging -
showcased at www.bubblescope.com
Tom was photographed (above) in 2002 holding the Moonman
- his artistic interpretation of his product vision for
BubbleScope®.
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Conventional photography is blinkered and
is therefore subjective. You, the photographer, point your
camera at a subject and shoot. The result is an image of
a subject in no context to the scene from which you captured
it. This is suited to many applications, where the photographer
is a spectator and a camera’s tunnel vision is acceptable
- but what do you do when the panoramic world around you
is too much for the blinkered frame of your camera?
How do you capture the full picture when you climb to the
top of a mountain? or sky dive from 10,000 feet? or witness
an awe-inspiring sunset illuminating the horizon around
you? or are simply enjoying the company of friends and family
around you?
BubbleScope® is an all-seeing imaging
device, which introduces a means of capturing these magic
moments in their entirity, to be savoured forever.
BubbleScope® creates a point-of-view
photography style where the entire scene surrounding the
scope is captured in a moment - enabing you to share any
point-of-view. This is perfect for any application where
you want to share the full picture and are not just a spectator,
but a participator.
WHEN YOU SPECTATE - USE A CAMERA
WHEN YOU PARTICIPATE - USE A BUBBLESCOPE®
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.
Since the advent of photography, scientists, engineers and
photographers have developed a variety of techniques for capturing
a 360° panoramic field-of-view and while there are numerous
examples of 360° imagery on the web, 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 remains an area of specialist
expertise - it’s applications usually confined to the
industries of real estate, tourism and surveillance.
In 2001, Tom realised the mass-market potential of 360°
imaging and set about researching & developing a handheld
panoramic digital camera, which was easy to use, could be
operated with one hand and captures high quality MegaPixel
images in a single-shot, with an all-seeing field-of-view.
The result of Tom’s work to date is a product which
defines itself, not as a competitor to the camera, but as
a next generation digital imaging device, which shoots bubble
images for high resolution print and interactive display.
We all live in our own little bubble and the BubbleScope®
presents a monumentous leap forward in digitally imaging it.
Tom Lawton’s company
BubbleScope Ltd has developed the first generation BubbleScope®
product - scheduled for worldwide launch in 2008.
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Tom Lawton is a young British designer who
leads his own independent research & development projects.
Tom is best known, other than the odd urban legend, for inventing
WakeYoo®, the recordable alarm clock, which he launched
with Zeon Tech, UK and took to market in November 2000 - www.wakeyoo.com
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