Lytro Unveils Groundbreaking New Consumer Light Field Camera with Endless Refocusing

Lytro Unveils Groundbreaking New Consumer Light Field Camera with Endless Refocusing

Mountain View, CA—Lytro unveiled the first Lytro consumer light field camera, introducing a new way to take and experience pictures. Unlike conventional cameras, the Lytro light field camera captures all the rays of light in a scene, providing brand-new capabilities, such as the ability to focus a picture after it’s taken.

The pocketsize camera, which employs an 8x optical zoom and f/2 lens in an iconic design, creates interactive “living pictures” that can be endlessly refocused.

The Lytro is the only consumer camera that lets people instantly capture a scene just as they see it by recording a fundamentally richer set of data than ever before, notes the company.  Lytro cameras feature a light field sensor that collects the color, intensity and the direction of every light ray flowing into the camera, capturing a scene in four dimensions. To process the additional information, Lytro cameras contain a light field engine that allows users to refocus pictures directly on the camera.

When the Lytro’s “living” pictures are shared online, the light field engine travels with each picture so anyone can interact with them on nearly any device, including web browsers, mobile phones and tablets—without having to download special software.

The camera’s sleek design was created with simplicity in mind. With no unnecessary modes or dials, it features just two buttons—power and shutter—and has an intuitive glass touch screen for viewing pictures and refocusing them directly on the camera.

Notable features include:
•    Form follows function: The Lytro’s compact design is driven by its 8x optical zoom lens, which features a constant f/2 aperture. Its anodized aluminum body is lightweight, weighing less than eight ounces.
•    Proprietary light field science: The Lytro is the only camera that captures life in “living” pictures. Its light field sensor captures 11 million light rays of data (or 11 megarays), including the direction of each ray, something conventional cameras don’t do. The light field engine then processes the data into a picture that is displayed in HD quality.
•    Speed: The Lytro’s speed ensures that people never miss a moment. It turns on instantly and has an instant shutter. With no need to autofocus, the Lytro has no shutter delays.
•    Low-light sensitivity: By using all of the available light in a scene, the Lytro performs well in low-light environments without the use of a flash.
•    Significant storage: The Lytro is available in both 8GB and 16GB models, storing 350 and 750 pictures, respectively. Initially, camera purchasers will be given free storage for the light field pictures they’ve uploaded to lytro.com.
•    3D: Captured as a full light field, all pictures taken with the Lytro are inherently 3D. Special light field algorithms, available in 2012, will be applied to the light field pictures to enable viewing on any 3D display and to enable viewers to shift the perspective of the scene.

The Lytro light field camera is accompanied by Lytro’s desktop application, a free software download that imports pictures from camera to computer. Currently available for Mac OS X, the desktop application lets people view, interact with, organize and share their light field pictures. Lytro pictures can then be uploaded to lytro.com to be shared via Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or as links in e-mail messages. Once shared, Lytro’s living pictures allow viewers to continually interact with the pictures—focusing them over and over to expand creative possibilities of each shot.

Light field science was the subject of Lytro CEO and founder Dr. Ren Ng’s PhD. dissertation in computer science at Stanford, which was awarded the  internationally recognized ACM Dissertation Award in 2007 as well as Stanford University’s Arthur Samuel Award for Best Ph.D. Dissertation. Dr. Ng’s research focused on miniaturizing light field technology into the body of a single camera to make it practical for everyday use.

“Light field photography was once only possible with 100 cameras tethered to a supercomputer in a lab,” said Ng. “Today it’s accessible to everyone in a camera that’s small and powerful, but incredibly easy to use. Our goal is to forever change the way people take and experience pictures, and today marks our first major step.”

The Lytro camera is available in two models that will ship in 2012: 8GB ($399, 350 pictures, in electric blue or graphite); and 16GB ($499, 750 pictures, in red). lytro.com

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