Lytro To Exit Consumer Photography Business, Focus On VR

Lytro came onto the photography scene by introducing an interesting camera that allowed photographers to shoot first and focus later through software. This is an interesting approach and while some smartphone OEMs did adopt similar technology in their phones, Lytro’s approach in the camera industry did not quite take.

This is why it isn’t surprising to learn that the company will now be exiting the consumer photography business. Instead the company is expected to turn their attention to virtual reality, according to the company’s CEO Jason Rosenthal. According to Rosenthal, “The cold hard fact was that we were competing in an established industry where the product requirements had been firmly cemented in the minds of consumers by much larger more established companies.”

Back in November last year, the company announced the Immerge. This is a 360-degree camera designed for cinematic virtual reality, which is apparently the field that Lytro will now be focusing on. This shouldn’t be surprising considering that virtual reality is the in thing these days, and there aren’t that many established players in the field yet as far as 360-degree VR cameras are concerned.

Nokia themselves have thrown their hat into the ring with the OZO camera, so that’s at least one competitor that they’ll have to contend with. According to Rosenthal, “I wake with a burning desire to go to work because I am so excited by what we are building and its potential to help shape VR. I’m surrounded by an amazing team. Hardly a day passes without one of them stopping me in the hallway and uttering my five favorite words: ‘Want to see something cool?’”

Tyler Lee
Categories: Photo-Video
Tags: lytro, Virtual Reality (VR)