The View From Above: In Hard Focus Round-up (July 21, 2011)

Not your average action figure: According to TechCrunch, Japanese company SoftEther has created a means for people to translate real world motion into 3D graphics by means of a motion-capture device nicknamed Quma. The device, which looks like a high-tech action figure, has sensors that translate physical motions to online actions. Check out the video above for a demo of Quma.

Model in focus: Lytro, the revolutionary camera and technology that we’ve covered before on In Hard Focus, blogged about its “First Light Field Supermodel.” Check out the post to play around with the photos and be your own fashion photographer!

Heathrow Airport now using facial recognition technology: The Guardian reported that London's Heathrow Airport is now rolling out facial recognition technology to verify airline passengers and prevent domestic/international ticket swaps in terminals. Heathrow has been using technology to process passengers since 2008, however this new implementation will sync with Aurora Imaging Recognition (AIR) and allow security to track an individual's location anywhere in the terminals.

Amazing Lytro Camera Automatically Captures 3-D Pictures

We reported on the groundbreaking Lytro camera last week, and we've been tracking the story ever since. Now, we've learned that the camera doesn't just create "living images" that you can focus later (and repeatedly). It also enables the user to place 3-D focus points on the photo itself--in essence, automatically creating 3-D images.

Because Lytro captures the entire light field--"all of the light traveling in every direction, in every dimension"--the camera records much more data within each photo than a normal camera.

For a taste of the results, check out this montage of Lytro photos that can be viewed in 3-D using colored (anaglyph) glasses, a 3-D display or by doing fancy tricks with your eyes. (Just pretend you're looking at one of those old "magic eye" posters!)

For now, the company is keeping their technological specifics under wraps. But the camera will be released in the next few months--and photography may never be the same again.