While it's been possible to shoot super wide angle shots for a while, that is to say 270-degree and above angles, for about five years, one problem is they typically cause some sort of angular distortion when played back. A South Korean researcher invented a lens that can produce a super-wide angle shot with no discernible distortion. If you're a little confused by the above pic, that black nub at the top is the camera's lens. The reflective surface on the bottom bounces light toward the lens at a super-wide angle. The lens then sees a picture in a really wide angle. It takes a computer to transform the image to a pan-able 180 degree picture. The lens isn't targeted specifically toward content creators, the lens will see use in security and robotics applications, where having an uber-wide field of view is more useful. If the lens truly is distortion free, we could see a positive impact in the video and multimedia worlds, but as is usual with technology that hasn't hit commercial availability yet (*COUGH* red camera *COUGH*) we'll just have to wait and see.

[Via The Raw Feed]