Computational Zoom Tech Demo Shows How to Create Impossible Photographs by Remixing Focal Lengths

Sometimes, you just want to capture yourself with something in the background, but conventional photography techniques just won't allow it. Introducing Computational Zoom, "a framework that allows a photographer to manipulate several aspects of composition in post-processing from a stack of pictures captured at different distances from the scene. We further define a multi-perspective camera model that can generate compositions that are not physically attainable, thus extending the photographer's control over factors such as the relative size of objects at different depths and the sense of depth of the picture. We show several applications and results of the proposed computational zoom framework," according to UCSB researchers. Click here to view the first image in today's viral picture gallery. Continue reading for a viral video of Adam Savage building an Excalibur Sword in just one day.