Light field photos offer changeable perspective

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University have created photographs which allow the viewer to change their point-of-view after they are taken.

The technique involves taking hundreds of still images with a handheld standard compact camera and then using software to analyse them in order to construct a light field - a faithful reproduction of a 3D scene.

They achieved this by linking the camera to a laptop which provided a map showing where they needed to move the lens to ensure they cover all the necessary positions.

Details of the project were published last year, external.

It was not the first time such an effect has been created, but it typically requires multiple cameras or the use of a robotic arm.

Video courtesy of Marc Levoy, Stanford University.