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Ballooncam service

 by feeding online images of traffic, you get a realtime picture
 
(+4, -4) 		  [vote for,
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You buy this low-cost balloon/camera (low resolution slow speed), which sends images every few seconds thru bluetooth to your car receiver, which then relays them on the cellular network to a server.

You then get a realtime picture of traffic everywhere.

—pashute, Aug 16 2007

realtime picture of traffic http://www.sigalert.com/
Baked in my area without "baloons". These cameras are all around. I think you have to pay for the service to see the pictures, though. [globaltourniquet, Aug 16 2007, last modified Aug 17 2007]

ODOT Cams http://www.tripchec...nNav=RoadConditions
Extremely widespread and free. Balloons to have this much coverage would blot out the sun. [Klaatu, Aug 18 2007]

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       birthday bun+
—k_sra, Aug 16 2007
   

       (-) You want to drag a balloon on a 10-30ft leash behind a car going, say, 60 mph? How high up do you figure it would go? More than 3ft?
—jutta, Aug 17 2007
   

       Sp. 'ballooncam'.
—imaginality, Aug 17 2007
   

       In some defense of the idea, [jutta], the places where you tend to care about seeing the traffic real time, the "baloon" will be flying much higher, as the car will be moving at about 5 mph. At least that's the way it is on my freeway, the 91 Westbound into Orange County in SoCal, and that's why I take the train.   

       So if all you see on your video is the back of the "balooncam" car, I guess you can figure you're good to go.
—globaltourniquet, Aug 17 2007
   

       The balloon can't go too high, I think bluetooth range is less than ten meters.
—Galbinus_Caeli, Aug 17 2007
   

       electricity wires.
—k_sra, Aug 17 2007
   

       overpasses.
—Klaatu, Aug 18 2007
   

       You could reel the balloon in (touch the "reel in" button on the dash, or have it done automagically) for electricity cables and overpasses.
—Cosh i Pi, Aug 19 2007
   

       Ah yes, the "reel in" makes it work, although more as an extreme periscope than as a steady service. And you could have little bluetooth repeaters along the line, I guess - I think they'd be lighter than just running a cable up. Or just use some line-of-sight network. Or, wait, can we use a glass fiber line in the string for communication? That would be cool.
—jutta, Aug 19 2007
   

       Whether they'd be lighter than a thin wire I don't know, but they'd be safer in the event of a failure to reel in under an HT cable...   

       Reeling it in and stowing it in through the sun roof when going fast would be better from a drag pov, too.
—Cosh i Pi, Aug 19 2007
   

       2 3 meters is enough. hitting a bridge just bounces it down for a second.and back up. Worse comes to worst, you loose the tiny camera which costs less than a dollar and has no sharp edges so no problem for cars in traffic.
—pashute, Feb 03 2021
   


 

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