Bird's Eye Camera Stand

A bird's eye lens is a very close relative to a fisheye lens, but uses a reflective optic to provide a 360-degree view. This thing is a stand designed to implement bird's eye imaging by holding an $80 Canon PowerShot ELPH115IS centered over a reflecting element -- a standard silvered glass ornament like you can get around Christmas for $0.50. Because the ELPH115IS can be programmed using CHDK, the rig can be used as a stand-alone device to capture everything happening in a room, and it is even possible for the camera to be programmed to "unwrap" the images to a more convenient representation for viewing (e.g., cylindrical projection).