Lytro
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founder | Ren Ng |
| Headquarters | United States  |
Key people | Ren Ng |
| Products | Digital camera |
| Website | lytro |
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Lytro, Inc. is a light field camera startup company founded in 2006 by Ren Ng, a light-field photography researcher at Stanford University.[1] Lytro's products are targeted to consumer use,[2][3] while the first company to enter the market of plenoptic cameras, German company Raytrix, has targeted its products to industrial and scientific applications of light-field photography.
Lytro produces its own cameras rather than licensing its technology with an established manufacturer.[4] In 2011, Lytro demonstrated capability to produce a camera that allows users to change the focus of a picture after the picture is taken.[5] According to TechCrunch, plenoptic cameras such as Lytro's are "a new type of camera that dramatically changes photography for the first time since the 1800s."[6]
The company's first camera went on sale October 19, 2011 in 8 GB (US$399) and 16 GB ($499) versions,[7] and began shipping on February 29, 2012.[8][9]
In February 2012, the company won the Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal’s Idea and Innovation Award in the consumer technology category.[10][9]
History
While he was a researcher at Stanford, Ng was photographing a friend’s daughter and noticed "it was incredibly difficult to focus the image properly and capture her fleeting smile in just the right way."[11] After completing his Ph.D, Ng decided to use his experience in light field research to “start a company that would produce light field cameras that everyone could enjoy."[11] The company was originally named Refocus Imaging, before launching as Lytro.
Lytro board members include Ben Horowitz, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz; Patrick Chung, partner at NEA; and TiVo cofounder Mike Ramsay,[12] with Charles Chi of Greylock Partners serving as Executive Chairman.[13] Advisors include Intuit cofounder Scott Cook, VMware cofounder Diane Greene, Dolby Labs chairman Peter Gotcher and Sling Media cofounder Blake Krikorian.[12]
Lytro founder Ng is the CEO. Lytro’s Chief Technology Officer Kurt Akeley was a founding member of Silicon Graphics.[13]
Prior to his death in 2011, Apple CEO Steve Jobs purportedly met with Lytro CEO Ren Ng to discuss improvements for the iPhone camera.[14]
Products
Lytro's plenoptic camera features a matrix of tiny lenses on a sensing chip.[15] These sensors gather light from different sources and directions. The camera itself is a squared-off tube less than five inches long with a lens opening at one end and an LCD touch screen at the other. The first generation of the camera comes in two options: one with 8GB of memory (which is priced at $399 and can hold 350 pictures) and one with 16GB (which is priced at $499 and can hold 750 pictures).[16][17][9]
Investors
As of June 21, 2011, Lytro has raised approximately $50 million.[18][19] This round of funding was led by NEA, with participation of investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners and K9 Ventures and along with individual investors.[12][9]
Technology
Light field photography (also known as plenoptic photography) captures all the available light in a scene going in every direction.[12] It works by breaking up the main image with an array of microlenses over an image sensor.[20] The camera software then uses this data to determine the directions of incoming light rays.[21] Currently the images can only be offloaded on Apple computers; the company plans to release software for Microsoft Windows in 2012.
Features of a plenoptic camera include:
- Refocusing: Users are able to refocus images after they are taken.[2][12]
- Speed: Because there is no need to focus the lens before taking a picture, a plenoptic camera can capture images more quickly than conventional point-and-shoot digital cameras.[2]
- Low-resolution: Users will be able to convert Lytro camera's proprietary image into a regular JPEG file, at a desired focal plane. The resulting image has 1080 × 1080 pixels – roughly 1.2 megapixels.[22]
- Low-light sensitivity: the ability to adjust focus in post-processing allows the use of larger apertures than are feasible on conventional cameras, thus enabling photography in low-light environments without a flash.[2][12]
- 3D images: since a plenoptic camera records depth information (which allows it to focus at variable depths), stereo images can be constructed in software from a single plenoptic image capture.[23][24]
References
- ^ "Lytro Company Fact Sheet" (PDF). Lytro. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
- ^ a b c d Fried, Ina. "Meet the Stealthy Start-Up That Aims to Sharpen Focus of Entire Camera Industry". All Things Digital. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
- ^ A Start-Up's Camera Lets You Take Shots First and Focus Later Steve Lohr, New York Times, 2011 June 21
- ^ Azevedo, Mary Ann (1 July 2011). "Lytro Inc. focused on its light field camera technology". San Jose Business Journal. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ Andrew Couts, Digital Trends. "Lytro: The camera that could change photography forever." June 22, 2011. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
- ^ Lacy, Sarah. "Lytro Launches to Transform Photography with $50M in Venture Funds (TCTV)". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ "Lytro announces Light Field Camera". Digital Photography Review. October 19, 2011.
- ^ Inside the Lytro by FRANK O’CONNELL, Business Day, New York Times, 2012 March 1
- ^ a b c d Diana Samuels, Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. "Lytro ships first cameras to lucky customers." Feb 29, 2012. Retrieved Apr 25, 2012.
- ^ Mary Ann Azevedo, Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. "AWARD – Consumer Technology: Lytro light camera lets users focus long after photos are shot." Feb 17, 2012. Retrieved Apr 25, 2012.
- ^ a b Bonnington, Christina (23 June 2011). "Ren Ng Shares His Photographic Vision: Shoot Now, Focus Later". WIRED. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f Geron, Tomio (21 June 2011). "Shoot First, Focus Later With Lytro's New Camera Tech". Forbes. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ^ a b "About Us". Lytro. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ^ Lance Whitney, CNET. "Steve Jobs wanted to reinvent iPhone photography, says book." January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
- ^ Ned Potter, ABC News. "Lytro Light-Field Camera: Shoot First, Ask Questions Later." December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
- ^ Dante Cesa, Engadget. "Lytro introduces world's first light field camera: f/2 lens, $399, ships early 2012." Oct 19, 2011. Retrieved Apr 20, 2012.
- ^ John Bradley, Wired. "Focus on the Future." Feb 29, 2012. Retrieved Apr 20, 2012.
- ^ Ina Fried, AllThingsD. "Meet the Stealthy Start-Up That Aims to Sharpen Focus of Entire Camera Industry." Jun 21, 2011. Retrieved Apr 24, 2012.
- ^ Tomio Geron, Forbes. "Shoot First, Focus Later With Lytro's New Camera Tech." Jun 21, 2011. Retrieved Apr 24, 2012.
- ^ Coldewey, Devin. "Doubts About Lytro's "Focus Later" Camera". TechCrunch. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
- ^ Lars Rehm, DP Review. "CES 2012: Lytro Photowalk." Jan 13, 2012. Retrieved Apr 20, 2012.
- ^ Goldman, Joshua. "Lytro camera: 5 things to know before you buy". CNET Editor. CNET. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
- ^ José Manuel Rodríguez-Ramos (1 April 2011). "3D imaging and wavefront sensing with a plenoptic objective". SPIE.
- ^ "Plenoptic lens arrays signal future?". TVB Europe. 23 September 2011.
External links
