Lytro Announced Professional Grade Light Field Camera Platform For VR Film Making – Lytro Immerge
Lytro, based in Mountain View, California, is a imaging platform and solution provider founded in 2006 by Executive Chairman Ren Ng, whose Ph.D. research on Light Field imaging won Stanford University’s prize for best thesis in computer science. Lytro is backed by top-tier VCs including Andreessen-Horowitz, Greylock Partners and NEA.
The company has just unveiled the world’s first 360 degree light field VR camera with the codename “Lytro Immerge”, for VR film makers, content producers, and immersive storytellers worldwide. Lytro Immerge is a professional grade light field camera system for cinematic virtual reality. Light field technology enables film makers to capture all data from any direction and everything from a scene, possibly eliminating the need of having multiple camera system on a set.
Because everything is captured, it allows viewers to choose their focuses. Light field camera could solve one of the biggest issue of film and 360 degree videos shot with other 360 camera system, nearly all the VR 360 videos available today are shot with fixed focus, light field camera is able to provide truly immersive and lifelike presence via six degrees of freedom. Viewers will be able to walk inside virtual reality and move their focus freely inside the 3D virtual environment.
“Traditional cinematic production and virtual reality are quickly becoming two sides of the same coin. In the early days of the web and mobile, studios experimented with those to market their tentpole films. They’re starting to do that now with VR around their major releases.” Jason Rosenthal, CEO of Lytro. ( Via Fortune )
Lytro Immerge is a total solution for light field video capture, including the camera array, post-production tool and playback player!
Lytro Is Building World’s Most Powerful Light Field Imaging Platform For Scientist & Content Makers
Lytro’s vision goes beyond being a camera system and imaging solution provider, Lytro is building the world’s most powerful Light Field imaging platform that will enable artists, scientists and innovators to pursue their goals with an unprecedented level of freedom and control. This revolutionary technology will unlock new opportunities for photography, cinematography, mixed reality, scientific and industrial applications.
Lytro Immerge is also billed as a complete light field video package and solution that includes spherical light field camera system ( containing 100,000 microlens ), tools for post-production, as well as a custom video player for playback. According to Jason Rosenthal, CEO of Lytro, the content captured with Immerge systems will be compatible with major VR headsets including PSVR, HTC Vive, Oculus CV1 and Gear VR.
Availability Of Lytro Immerge System
Lytro is expected to launch in Q1 2016. The camera system will be available for purchase, the price has not been announced yet, but expect the price tag to be only affordable by production studios and professionals. According Rosenthal, the camera system will also available based on a rental term.
