But the boxlike camera, and its successor, called the Illum, aren't what's fascinating. It's actually the pictures themselves, which can be refocused, zoomed in on, and moved around, after the picture has already been taken.
Samsung and HTC have since copied this technology; both of them offer phone cameras that take pictures that can be focused after the fact. And Google has a standalone camera app that allows you to do the same thing.
The effect of these "focus-after-the-fact" images can sometimes be stunning, and even change the way you look at the photo entirely. But Lytro was the company that started it all.
To interact with the pictures: double-tap to zoom, click on different areas to refocus, and move your mouse around the photo to create a really cool-looking 3-D effect.