  Omnidirectional camera is a cost-effective and information-rich sensor highly
suitable for many marine applications and the ocean scientific community,
encompassing several domains such as augmented reality, mapping, motion
estimation, visual surveillance, and simultaneous localization and mapping.
However, designing and constructing such a high-quality 360$^{\circ}$ real-time
streaming camera system for underwater applications is a challenging problem
due to the technical complexity in several aspects including sensor resolution,
wide field of view, power supply, optical design, system calibration, and
overheating management. This paper presents a novel and comprehensive system
that addresses the complexities associated with the design, construction, and
implementation of a fully functional 360$^{\circ}$ real-time streaming camera
system specifically tailored for underwater environments. Our proposed system,
UWA360CAM, can stream video in real time, operate in 24/7, and capture
360$^{\circ}$ underwater panorama images. Notably, our work is the pioneering
effort in providing a detailed and replicable account of this system. The
experiments provide a comprehensive analysis of our proposed system.
