Patent ID: 7742070

Claim:
A camera for acquiring a 360 degree panoramic image, the camera comprising: a generally cylindrical housing, said housing allowing light to pass through it a top cover, said top cover disposed at a first end of said housing; a photochromic reflector, said photochromic reflector disposed with said housing, below said top cover; and an image capture element, said image capture element disposed at a second end of said housing, wherein the photochromic reflector is a hemispherical photochromic reflector, and wherein the photochromic reflector is comprised of an acrylic half-ball, the acrylic half-ball having a mirror coating disposed thereon, and a photochromic coating disposed on the mirror coating, and further comprising: a plurality of sensor modules disposed around the exterior of the camera; and a plurality of light sources disposed around the exterior of the camera, wherein each light source corresponds to a sensor module, and each light source is configured to illuminate the photochromic reflector upon activation of the corresponding sensor module.