Kino

"Flying camera ball. I'm calling it a Kino."

- Eli Wallace

A Kino, named by Eli Wallace after the Russian word meaning cinema, is a sleek, softball-sized self-levitating orb, designed and built in mass quantities by the Ancients. Kinos contain a vast variety of sensors which are shown to be at least capable of determining atmospheric makeup and recording video with sound. The device's movement can be controlled by remote or by Ancient computers, such as those aboard the Destiny.

Overview
"Why, it's marvelous!"

- Nicholas Rush

A Kino is comparable to a MALP in its use in scouting forward through an active Stargate to an unexplored world; however, the Kino is arguably far more advanced than a MALP. There are at least two functioning Kinos aboard the Destiny along with many more of unknown status, which are dispensed by stations along the walls of the ship. Despite the large quantity available, there is no indication that the supply is unlimited.

When a Kino is deployed through a Stargate it automatically up-links with the Destiny's computers allowing the ship to track planetary details such as atmosphere. As with the multipurpose consoles aboard the ship, the remote used to handle a Kino also acts remote control for a Stargate, similar to a DHD but in a mobile format.

History
"It comes with a remote. I thought we could use it to look around."

- Eli Wallace

The Kino can also be used for general searching through Destiny. When the ship lost power shortly after the arrival of Icarus Base personnel, Eli Wallace sent a Kino on a general search through uncompressed sections of the ship to search for an active console. This implies that a Kino can either analyze it's own visual feed or somehow link up with the console in question.

In 2009 after the Destiny Expedition's arrival, Eli Wallace used a Kino to interview several crew members. He asked them to say to the camera they're name, age, position, and something for posterity.

Behind the scenes

 * 30 webisodes featuring the Kino are now in production to accompany the first season of Stargate Universe.
 * In German, Kino means "Movie Theater". In Russian, it means both "cinema" and "movie".
 * Joseph Mallozzi has stated in his blog that he thinks Kino should stand for "Kinetic Interactive Navigational Orb" though this was not the case.
 * The Kino concept has appeared in many other films and television series, including Star Trek, Star Wars, and even the horror genre by way of the film Phantasm.
 * The Kino is also similar in all aspects to Ball Cameras being sold to civilians, and militaries alike in the real world. Minus the levitation of course.