It was the blast of pepper spray that shook the internet and sparked a debate across the US about excessive force by police.
Surrounded by students with camera phones, campus police officer John Pike at the University of California, Davis, was destined to become an internet pariah - and viral sensation - the moment he decided to douse seated Occupy movement demonstrators with the blinding spray.
Now, using a start-up created by two Aussies called SwitchCam, you can watch the entire incident from multiple camera angles and with a selection of audio tracks.
The technology - which automatically pieces together camera phone footage of events ranging from music concerts to political protests - is so powerful that it has just attracted $1.2 million from investors led by US billionaire businessman Mark Cuban.
"These videos exist separately on YouTube but they absolutely belong together because they're of the same thing, the same time and place," says SwitchCam co-founder Brett Welch.
SwitchCam's site is presently focused on music concerts, and there are dozens already available ranging from Gotye's set at this year's Coachella to John Mayer performing at the Hollywood Bowl in 2010.
But Welch, 29, says the site will be moving further into sport and news around August or September. He wants SwitchCam to provide a ground-level view of events like the Arab Spring and the London riots.
With 72 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute, he will never be short of camera operators.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/techno ... z1xpL3uga9
Switchcam
Switchcam
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”