"There is still a problem, which is that you have to assign a physical sensor pixel to each point in a 4-d space (2 position and 2 direction coordinates), which means that you have to give up some of the spatial resolution of the sensor."
I agree, if I remember correctly Lytro had 1M pixles (??) during the 10Mpxl era. But as larger sensor appear (to my surprise - a sensor is a fixed area of Si!) to become cheaper to make I think this problem will go away.
Also, these are problems that companies like Apple excel at smashing. Apple disdains what the consumer thinks they want and they have a legion of fan boys to become early adopters and proselytize the masses. Incidentally, I think the founder of Lytro now works for Apple.
I agree, if I remember correctly Lytro had 1M pixles (??) during the 10Mpxl era. But as larger sensor appear (to my surprise - a sensor is a fixed area of Si!) to become cheaper to make I think this problem will go away.
Also, these are problems that companies like Apple excel at smashing. Apple disdains what the consumer thinks they want and they have a legion of fan boys to become early adopters and proselytize the masses. Incidentally, I think the founder of Lytro now works for Apple.