Patent ID: 8290358

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: an optical system comprising: an objective lens, wherein the objective lens is configured to refract light from a scene located in front of an aperture of the optical system; and a multidimensional optical array, wherein the optical array comprises a plurality of optical elements, wherein each optical element in the optical array is configured to refract light from the objective lens; a photosensor configured to capture light projected onto the photosensor from the optical system, wherein the photosensor is positioned proximate to an image plane of the optical system; wherein the optical array is positioned between the objective lens and the photosensor in the apparatus and proximate to the objective lens so that distance between the objective lens and the optical array is small relative to distance from the optical system to the image plane of the optical system such that the objective lens and the optical array are located at substantially a same optical plane to form the image plane as an optical unit; and wherein each optical element of the optical array is configured to project a separate image of the scene onto a separate location on the photosensor; wherein the separate images of the scene projected onto the photosensor by the optical array form a multidimensional array of the separate images that includes radiance information, wherein the radiance information indicates distribution of intensity of the light in multiple directions at multiple points.