Creating 3D images with a single lens, without moving it
Harvard researchers come up with a computational method for
creating images with depth from a single lens.  Test image This
still is one of the test images used to demonstrate the single-
lens 3D technique. Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET
Making 3D images is typically a bit of a production. One method
is to use two lenses to create a stereoscopic image. Harvard
researchers have come up with a way to create 3D images using a
single lens without requiring new hardware.  The method works by
taking two images with a camera or microscope. The camera
doesn't move, but each image is focused at a different depth.
Those images are then run through a computer that calculates the
angle of light to each pixel. This allows the computer to
determine what the image would look like if taken from a
different position, the way the second lens on a 3D camera would
see it.  The technique is called "light field moment imaging." A
paper describing the research has be