Not sure whether you’ve heard about Lytro or not; they make an interesting camera that allows users to first take a shot and re-focus later. I don’t understand their technology but you can learn more about it from Lytro’s website.
Toshiba is apparently working on something similar. Their 1cm-thick camera module will house an array of 500,000 tiny lenses to enable capturing of slightly different images from each lens arrangement. The “complete” image is then accomplished using Toshiba’s own software to allow the mentioned “focus after the shot” capability.
But that’s not all – the camera will also be able to calculate the distance between objects to make for even better photos and… (drums please) videos. Lytro can’t handle video recording so this gives Toshiba’s technology an advantage.
The Japanese company hopes to commercialize the module before the end of next year, and it is already speaking with a number of smartphone and tablet makers that would license the technology. Sounds pretty promising to me, what do you think?
[Via: Engadget]