Google built a rotating rig of GoPros to capture more realistic VR images

Light field photography was made popular by futuristic camera company Lytro.

Instead of only capturing the light that comes straight in through a camera’s lens.

light field photography is where you capture all the rays of light from a scene, as well as information about where they came from.

With the right hardware and software, the result is you can reassemble those light rays to create an interactive picture.

one you could endlessly refocus, like with the photos from Lytro’s consumer cameras.

Or you could put the imagery in VR so that, when move your head, you can see around the corners of close objects:-

an effect that adds to the realism of virtual reality.

Google Update on VR:

Instead of only capturing the light that comes straight in through a camera’s lens.

light field photography is where you capture all the rays of light from a scene, as well as information about where they came from.

With the right hardware and software, the result is you can reassemble those light rays.

To create an interactive picture, one you could endlessly refocus, like with the photos from Lytro’s consumer cameras.

you can see around the corners of close objects — an effect that adds to the realism of virtual reality.

Photo: Google

One of the big hurdles with light field photography is how to capture all that information.

Compared to the $125,000 light field cinema camera Lytro makes and rents, the solution Google showed off today has a much more clever, hack-y, low-budget vibe.

It’s not totally clear what Google will do next with this tech.

The company’s VR wing could release a set of plans for the rig, like it did with Jump.

Though the mix of hardware and software required to make it all work is far more complicated than spherical image stitching.

This could also be a precursor to a more consumer-friendly solution, which is what happened with the Jump and VR180 programs.