School of Design, Engineering & Computing

Graduate to share his 360° view of the world at BU festival

21 June 2011

Tom Lawton to preview latest creation at BU’s 2011 Festival of Design and Innovation.

Inventor, broadcaster and Bournemouth University graduate Tom Lawton will preview his latest creation – the incredible BubbleScope - during the preview evening of BU’s Festival of Design and Innovation (Thursday, 23 June, 2011) later this week.

The BubbleScope is the latest innovation from Tom who graduated with a degree in Product Design Visualisation in 1998. The BubbleScope allows the user to capture 360° images or video in a single click through their smartphone. The BubbleScope then uses the BubblePix phone App for previewing, capturing, viewing and then sharing 360° bubbles to Twitter, Facebook and more.

The BubbleScope itself works by using a precision engineered hemi-spherical glass mirror to capture the 360° environment around the device. An arrangement of corrective optics and an angled mirror then re-directs the light into the camera’s standard lens and produces a ‘doughnut’ shaped 360° image.

A bespoke App is then used to ‘unwrap’ this into a complete panoramic image in real time, which can then be previewed and captured as a still image or a video. The BubbleScope captures a 360° horizontal, 120° vertical field of view so a truly immersive panoramic image or video of the environment around the device can be accomplished in just a single camera frame.

For Tom, the recent launch of the BubbleScope on the CrowdFunder website is the culmination of 10 years’ research and testing many prototypes to finally launch a device that captures the complete 360° environment in an instant. Final pre-production testing is now being carried out on the BubbleScope which is available to pre-order through the UK crowd funding website.

“Ten years ago I was inspired by the beautiful world around me to create the best, most practical, compact and affordable instant 360˚ panoramic camera possible,” says Tom. “My vision was to enable anyone to capture and share their experiences as 360˚ bubbles. Today that dream is a reality and I am thrilled to be launching my BubbleScope product this summer. When life inspires you, just shoot the bubble!”

Tom is no stranger to commercial success and critical acclaim. His first invention was his final year project as a student – the ‘WakeYoo’ alarm clock – which sold over 250,000 units through high street retailers including Hamleys, Harrods, Selfridges, Argos, Dixons and John Lewis. ‘WakeYoo’s’ success was followed with Nobby, a voice recognition clock with an interactive personality, which he launched through The Science Museum in the UK and Sharper Image in the US, selling over 60,000 units.

In late 2008 Tom launched Firewinder, The Original Windlight, which won first place in the Green Dot Award, Los Angeles, this prestigious US prize rewards innovative products & businesses for environmental excellence. The same year he debuted at 100% Design London where Firewinder was acknowledged as ‘Best of Show’.

In 2010, Tom took a step into television by judging Shine TV’s ‘My Genius Idea’ for the BBC. This opportunity to work as an ambassador for creative & innovative children was a natural fit for Lawton, who was thrilled to be a part of the show.