Olympus developing 360-degree lens

Camera giant Olympus has been recently playing with the idea of a 360-degree camera lens. The company believes that it could be marketed for surveillance purposes.

This makes sense, as most cameras are only designed to shoot at one angle, and perpetrators can easily get around the ones that can swivel. However, a 360-degree horizontal image cannot be avoided.

The image in the vertical is only 180 degrees, which may not be enough to see anything of interest on the ceiling, but it is enough to get more of a view than normal.

Another obvious application is video conferencing. Now a room filled with many people can be easily pictured without an automatic focus.