360 degree lens: surround photography and projection?

by Andi in Miscellaneous Gadgets, Photography, Tech News

panorama cameraThe Olympus Corporation of Japan has developed a new camera lens, and a very special one at that. Besides a 360 degree panoramic view, it also offers 45 degrees of vertical visibility.

This way, you get an almost complete coverage of the surrounding area.

They’ve achieved that by creating a free-curved design that is also axially symmetrical. This way, the incoming light is reflected and refracted into a perfect panorama of the surroundings.

This way, a single lens and image source can be used to project an image or animation on more than half of a room’s surface.

Good news is that it’s not a one-way process. A beam of light can also be sent through the bottom, thus projecting that panorama in the surrounding space.

Olympus already have created a design that can be mounted as a normal lens to cameras or projectors.

Besides the obvious practicality of this lens when used with a security camera, I think this system opens up a whole new dimension of virtual sightseeing: imagine a perfect high-resolution picture of a landscape or museum room, projected in your own room through one of these lenses. It should be a wonderful and immersive thing indeed.

Below, you’ll see the reflection/refraction schematics, as well as the lens itself and a projector with one of these fitted.

the lens itselfspacerlens attached to projectorspacerschematic

Project page (Japanese), via SCI FI Tech.

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2 Comments on “360 degree lens: surround photography and projection?”

Gallery of Gadgets #92 » Coolest Gadgets Says:

July 8th, 2007 at 12:59 pm

[...] 360 degree lens: surround photography and projection? [...]

Sam Belamy Says:

February 11th, 2009 at 11:51 am

Hi,

This is Sam from Egg Solution Ltd.

About the company

EGG Solution are the manufacturers of one shot 360 degree virtual tour lens.

Well, let me tell you Egg Photo 360 will help you create virtual tours at your own without any technical background required and you can upload these virtual tours on your website or email these tours to your clients. It will help enhance your business in today’s scenario of recession. Egg lens can be used by attaching to any digital camera, which has a minimum resolution of 3 mega pixel.

In today’s economy Egg solution is the only solution for creating virtual tours at no cost.

Please find the attached document along with this mail. i am sending you the brochure of our product.
I will be more happy to speak to you on the same in the coming days.
For more information please log on to http://www.eggsolution.com and http://www.360realtour.com.

Thanks and Regards,
Sam Belamy.
Sales Executive.
Egg Solution Ltd.
310-933-6261

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