Here's one of my favorite DIY videos that was actually shot over 2 years ago by Vimeo member Edwin Bont. I've been wanting to tackle this project myself, but am always getting sidetracked. It might be on my list of things this weekend if i'm not too backlogged from CES. It's a video that hasn't had much attention, but a very original DIY in what is called the 'Sphere Arm'. This rig uses a set of L brackets cleverly assembled to keep the lens at a fixed distance while allowing it to be rotated in several axises. This not only gives you the illusion of rotating horizontally, but also vertically.
The build quality on the one shown in the video isn't very heavy duty and video doesn't seem to be of high quality, but i'm sure with a bit more DIY out there this thing can really bring in the 'next camera movement'. Might even be an interesting movement with small cameras such as the GoPro and light weight GH2. Wedding videographers, I can totally see this as a macro video movement around some wedding rings. Yeah, I think this idea has been asleep too long and needs to be hashed out with something more refined. Besides myself, (if I can get to it) who else is up for the challenge?