With the potential to revolutionize robot vision, National Science Foundation (NSF) funded US researchers from the University of Illinois have developed a silicon camera detector with a hemispherically shaped surface.
Made using the same silicon technology as modern day detectors, they can be 'stretched' into shapes matching eyes found in biology, such as insects, or even the human eye. This is highly beneficial as it greatly improves the field of view, as well as other benefits reported by the researchers.
Some more relevant links:
Automaton
BBC
AZoNano.com
Optics.org
