3. Applications

We've already mentioned a number of applications for plenoptic cameras, in particular consumer cameras, from the marketing of Lytro or Raytrix cameras, phase-detection autofocus systems from Canon or Samsung, to future optical architectures envisaged for smartphones to enable the user to retouch the focus or point of view.

Other applications in the scientific and industrial fields are also being validated. Plenoptic technology is often compared with existing 3D imaging techniques, and its strengths lie in its ease of use and compactness.