Lytro Immerge: light field video camera for creating virtual reality

Virtual reality is gradually becoming mainstream. Lytro entered the market in 2012, launching a small light field camera (plenoptic camera) for $ 150, which records the distance to all objects in the frame, so that you can change the depth of field after the shooting. Then came the more advanced Lytro Illum with a powerful lens, similar to the usual digital "SLR".

Now Lytro has taken a serious step forward and presented a product of a completely different class: this is a professional panoramic video camera of a light field for recording virtual reality of unprecedented quality, with which no other similar product from other manufacturers can compare. Lytro speaks of the “2K resolution per eye” video.

The Lytro Immerge model looks absolutely fantastic: the alien-type sphere is mounted on a tripod like the newcomers from the War of the Worlds movie.
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Images published today are just renders. The manufacturer promises to release the first test versions for developers in January 2016, and the video camera will be available soon after that. To participate in the testing prototype offer to fill out an application on the official site.

The spherical chamber consists of five contours, each of which has a large number of light field sensors around the perimeter. By virtue of its shape, the camera records light rays from all sides, including the top and bottom. Thus, a person can freely view the surrounding virtual reality, then wearing VR glasses.



There are no wires on the renderers connecting the Lytro Immerge tripod to the power supply and to the proprietary server that Lytro has developed to record information, change shooting parameters in real time, and edit the footage.





The future cost of Lytro Immerge is a bit scary. The equipment is clearly intended for professional studios and filmmakers. The cost of the camera, server and software will range from $ 250,000 to $ 500,000. Aware of the exorbitant cost of equipment, Lytro is going to rent out the kit at a more realistic price from $ 6,000 to $ 8,000 per day.