Patent ID: 8059150

Claim:
A self contained, compact, portable observation device comprising: a static base, a rotatable housing, and means for rotating said housing relative to said base; a slip ring assembly configured to allow two-way transmission of electrical power and signals between the base and electric components inside the housing while avoiding tangling wires while said housing undergoes unlimited rotation in either direction relative to said base; wherein said rotatable housing comprises omni-directional detection means, directional inspection means, a processing assembly for identifying the occurrence of predetermined events within the field of view of said omni-directional detection and for automatic aiming of said directional inspection means at the location at which said predefined events take place, and a communication assembly that enables automatic transmission and documentation of predefined events to a remote receiving and observation unit; wherein the omni-directional detection means comprises omni-directional optics integrated to a video camera system and one or more of the following: imaging sensors; microphone arrays; volume detector arrays; and heat detectors; wherein the directional inspection means comprises a directional video imaging camera; a plurality of peripheral LEDs spaced around the top of the housing for providing illumination for the omni-directional optics wherein said peripheral LEDs provide illumination in the spectral range to which said optics are sensitive; and a plurality of directional LEDs mounted near the objective lens of the directional video imaging camera for illuminating the scene imaged by said directional video imaging camera, wherein said directional LEDs provide illumination in the spectral range to which said camera is sensitive.