Have you ever taken a picture and wished that you focused on something else for the shot? You could always get a Lytro. But if you’re hoping for that same kind of awesome technology in your smartphone, Toshiba’s got you covered.

The company plans to introduce a new lens module that is designed to let you do just that — all within your own smartphone or tablet. The new module houses an array 500,000 tiny lenses that are layered in front of the camera sensor, allowing it to capture slightly different images from each lens arrangement.

Using Toshiba’s proprietary software, the picture would then be combined and allow you to shift focus between objects after you’ve taken them. The company also says that it will be able to do video with the same kind of adjustment — a feature that the similar Lytro cameras currently do not offer.

While the sensor is still currently in development, Toshiba plans to commercialize the module before the end of next year. If they succeed and gain traction with smartphone manufacturers, we’ll be looking at after-shot-focusing as a standard feature in our phones in the very near future.

[via Engadget]