Technology buffs will no doubt find the following invention out of Japan impressive. It’s said to be the world’s first “spherical flying machine” aircraft ever invented (though we’re skeptical of that claim) and has the capabilities of revolutionizing State-sponsored surveillance.

We’re already familiar with military and police drone technology which can monitor and survey large areas with forward looking infrared, utilize face recognition and engage military and civilian targets with on-board weapons. With this new design, however, drone and micro-bot advancements can be taken to a whole new level of control and miniaturization.

We can only surmise that if we’ve been able to identify the host of military and policing applications, so too have the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies (the sphere was actually developed by researchers at Japan’s Ministry of Defense).

Hat tip Steve Quayle

Though this version of the sphere available for public consumption appears to be a first generation technology, we suspect Japan is already working on more advanced models, likely for drone-related applications, which means in the next few years we’ll probably see these aircraft being deployed in military theaters, as well as for domestic surveillance applications.

They’re fast, light weight, and versatile during take-off, landing and flight. Outfitted with the right lethal or less-than-lethal weapons systems such as tazer, compact active denial system microwave heat rays, or LRAD sound cannons, spherical drones could take crowd control and policing to a whole new level. Not to mention the miniaturization possibilities when we consider applications for micro autonomous systems such as robo-insects, which are capable of fly-on-the-wall clandestine surveillance.

Technology, it seems, can be a blessing and a curse.