Pelican Imaging – Nokia, Qualcomm and even Panasonic already invested in this startup, why? because it has developed one of the most innovative and groundbreaking photography technologies in recent years.

This tiny module will change photography for ever?

Using no less than 16 tiny cameras squeezed into a single module no larger than a coin which can be fitted on the back of your smartphone Pelican Imaging was able to create a Light-field camera of tiny proportion and high resolution capable of shooting images with depth information (for after-the-shot refocus) as well as 3D videos with no extra cameras required.

Here are some of the things Pelican Imaging is promising us for next year

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Light-field isn’t anything new. Several companies including Toshiba and Lytro demonstrated light-field based cameras but so far only Lytro was able to bring an actual consumer product to the market. However the Lytro camera is large and expensive (costing about $300 and having a strange looking body over 4 inches long with a tiny screen). Pelican Imaging plans to put Light-field into your smartphone with very little extra cost as soon as next year.

16 lenses in one camera – Pelican Imaging

The video above showing Pelican Imaging CEO Christopher Pickett, includes some remarkable examples of what the new technology can do including something that we did not see before – the ability to copy and past people and objects from one image to another with (supposedly) great accuracy and ease.

Pelican Imaging also promote their product for shooting 3D video and being able to print replicates of people and object using this information – certainly an interesting application of the technology which you can see in the following video.

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Pelican Imaging CEO Christopher Pickett in a more in-depth interview during CES 2014

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If you love photography technology don’t miss our dedicated photo tech video section here on lensvid.com.