Lytro intends to share its next-generation camera technology

The grand promise of Lytro has been a camera that you can snap photos with and not worry about whether you got the focus right. In an industry defined by speed and sharpness, that’s a revolutionary idea. But one of the big problems realizing that vision has been Lytro’s hardware, which has been expensive and disappointing. So today, the company is opening up its technology with the Lytro Development Kit (LDK), which allows others to create their own specialty cameras. The first customers include NASA and the US Department of Defense, along with private companies in fields like energy and healthcare. That means light-field cameras in hospitals, battlefields, and even outer space.