The Eye Ball R1, a wireless camera and microphone in a baseball-sized casing, can be tossed into a crime scene to give police watching a TV screen embedded in a handheld a 360-degree view of what the bad guys are up to.

Remington Technologies, sells the device to law-enforcement and government agencies only. “We want to keep it in the hands of the good guys and not find it being used at shopping malls by the wrong people in the wrong situation,” Remington Technologies director Asher Gendelman says.

Besides being tossed, the Eye Ball can be placed on a pole or on a line to let authorities peer around corners, over fences, up and down stairwells, and in attics. Its omnidirectional camera has night-vision capabilities. The device can take video up to 75 feet away and record audio from up to 15 feet away.

It also could be used in emergencies such as building and mine collapses and rescuers can deploy the Eye Ball in tight spaces to search for victims. As the technology matures, similar devices with sensors could, for instance, sniff out a dangerous chemical substance in an enclosed area.

Via Gizmo for Geeks Information Week.