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"The Lytro camera has been called the biggest leap in photography since digital replaced film. Some have even hailed it as one the most significant innovations in photography since \u2026 well, since photography. \nIf you're not familiar with Lytro yet, that's forgivable, because the Lytro camera is unusual. It doesn't look like a camera, for one thing \u2014 its elongated body more closely resembles a flashlight or a big stick of butter. The familiar pieces are all there, just streamlined. The shutter button feels more like an iPhone's home button. The zoom slider is elegant and simple. A single viewscreen allows most simple actions through intuitive swiping and tapping.\nThe device's function is much more striking than its form, however. Put simply, Lytro lets you refocus and even shift the perspective of pictures after you take them. \nLytro accomplishes this sci-fi feat through light-field photography, a revolutionary technology that the startup's founder, Ren Ng, worked on while getting his Ph.D. from Stanford. Ng put advanced guts in a compelling and consumer-friendly package that looks (and operates) like no other camera. \n\nSEE ALSO: This Is How Your DSLR Camera Actually Works\n\nBut how does it actually work? Light-field photography is similar to the tech inside your DSLR or camera phone. Light enters through a lens (with a fixed f/2 aperture and an optical zoom that goes up to 8x), then travels through a micro-lens array before hitting a sensor that interprets the light into a usable photograph. Pretty simple stuff \u2014 certainly not too outlandish for anyone even marginally familiar with cameras. \nBut the real magic happens (and admit it, it kind of does seem like magic) when light hits the sensor. Unlike the sensor in a DSLR, Lytro is designed to read not only the color and intensity of light, but also the direction the light came from. It feeds all that data to the camera's \"light field engine,\" then gives the finished picture to you on the viewscreen. \nThat might not sound like much, but think of it like this: You're responsible for taking roll at the start of a college class. Every day you recite the names and wait for a \"Here!\" from each student. But you're doing it while blindfolded. You know the students are there, you know the sound of their voices \u2026 And then one day, you take off the blindfold. Suddenly you can see the whole class, understand the way it's organized spatially and put faces to names. You can see every individual face in the crowd, but you can also recognize the crowd as a whole. \nIf each student were a ray of light hitting a Lytro sensor, you would have 11 million students. That's a big auditorium. \n\nSEE ALSO: Here's How Good Nokia's 41-Megapixel Camera Phone Is\n\nThis is the advantage of the light field over traditional 2D photography: Directional data allows Lytro to see (and capture) every possible photo that could be taken when you press the shutter. If you're snapping a pic of your friend in front of a busy street, the camera records the friend and the cars clearly. One tap of your finger, and you can blur either the cars or your friend, creating two different pictures, telling two different stories, from the same image. Beat that, Instagram.\nLight-field photography has other applications besides simple refocusing, including the ability to shift the perspective of scene, bestowing a rudimentary 3D effect. You can see it for yourself in some of the \"living pictures\" below. Click anywhere in the image to refocus, or click and drag to change perspective. \n\nKeep in mind that light-field photography also means that none of the photo needs be out of focus: Lytro allows you to keep the whole image crystal clear if you want.\n\nHave you used Lytro? Share your living pictures in the comments section, and let us know if you still have question about this futuristic technology. \nFlag photo by Lytro\nLizard photo by Mashable, Pete Pachal\nTop image by Mashable"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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