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They're throwable robots with cameras from Recon Scout. You heave one of these things in (they'll survive a 30' drop onto concrete) and control it with a joystick. Designed for the military and SWAT teams. You can get yours for just $6-9K. Ideal for braking up jail fights.
For more information, there are videos on YouTube. (Search for "recon scout throwbot" because "recon scout" is also the name for a knife.) Although intended to reduce exposing soldiers and police to hostile fire, I can fantasize a household loaner business to scour a house on a periodic basis to check under couches for missing retainers, rings, and keys.
Because of it's light weight an officer can hold the throwbot in one hand and still keep a weapon in the other. Most of us are fortunate not to need to consider features like these when making purchases. Other design features make sense: the throwbot is turned on by pulling a pin rather than flipping a switch to make it easier to activate with gloves, Hazmat suits, etc. and very difficult for the other guys to inactivate it. (Of course the expectation is that the other side won't have the appropriate pin or a controller to turn off or jam the device.)
I'll know how common these things become when they appear in CSI reruns. (They may be a standard feature of cop shows, but I'm at a disadvantage here because I rarely watch TV.)
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