Today Olympus Japan announced [JP] the development of a 360° lens and camera prototype. The technology is a world first.

The company started working on the prototype last year. The camera covers a vertical angle of 180° now, while the old version only covered 45°. A special kind of glass is used for the lens, which has a diameter of 3cm.

The picture on the right shows a conference room shot with the 360° camera (left).

As to be expected, Olympus says the camera will be most likely used for surveillance purposes. The company’s own R&D lab, Future Creation Laboratory, is mainly responsible for the development of the technology. Olympus didn’t say when the camera will be commercialized.