Lytro gets better with Illum, new file format for Web and join hands with 500px

Very often while going through old photographs we recollect priceless memories that bring a smile to our faces, moments which we hold a special place somewhere deep inside our hearts. We all tend to relive those cherishable and precious moments, in our minds. Just imagine how incredible an experience it would be, if we could physically relive those moments.

Thanks to Lytro this is now a possibility.

Living Pictures

Lytro a budding start-up with some pretty decent achievements in a very short span of time, known for the world’s first consumer light-field camera, not just any camera- a camera enabling users to change the focus after a picture has been clicked. Lytro’s continuous efforts to transform a camera into a powerful computational photography platform. But a tiny catch impeding this amazing innovation being the alien format that the so-called Lytro images use.

An ordinary camera is capable of taking a picture with only the object of focus being captured in great detail thereby limiting the extent upto which one can alter a photograph. Now Lytro comes up with a software along with some slightly modified hardware capable of capturing every section of the object within the frame with great detail (capturing light coming from every direction). So that after clicking the picture you have the data of even the smallest section of the object allowing you to change the focus, zoom in or zoom out the image. This is the basic principle behind a Light-Field camera or a Plenoptic camera.

Catch-22 situation… handled

With the aim to encourage Light-Field photography and to share this unprecedented visual experience, Lytro has developed a new format in which such images can be saved or converted to allow web hosting and sharing, that too without the need of additional plugins.

This step has opened the doors of Lytro’s living pictures ecosystem for the rest of the world, by using a new open-file format that follows WebGL standards for 3D graphics. Allowing living pictures to be integrated with any social-media platform. Artist can alter the appearance of living pictures by adjusting perspective, focal point and dimensions offering a realm of possibilities for artists  and photographers to explore visual storytelling in a compelling and interactive fashion.

“The beauty of building a new ecosystem for Light Field Photography is inviting others to help shape it,” said Lytro CEO Jason Rosenthal. “Photography and the Web share a similar need to engage audiences on a deeper level through immersive, interactive experiences that seamlessly blend art with digital. We are excited for this open-source project to extend the ecosystem of living pictures and help the Web’s leading architects build unprecedented visual experiences for their users.” As a demonstration, Lytro is going to partner with 500px the premier photography community for discovering, sharing, buying and selling inspiring art.

Setting the stage

With the launch of its WebGL player Lytro seems to be laying a strong foundation for the launch of its next Light-field camera the “ILLUM”. The first of its kind light-field capturing DSLR intended to be used by professionals as well as light-field photography enthusiasts and artists alike. Giving the user the power to capture the moment, the power to tell a deeper story, to capture the true emotion of a moment.