Stumbled across an article the other day about a new camera being developed by the lytro company.
http://www.lytro.com/
http://www.lytro.com/
They are developing what they call a light field camera, a fundamentally different method of capturing light for photography. I can't claim to understand how it works but they claim you'll be able to mimic specific lens properties in post without the need for the lens itself. Which is pretty cool.
Check out the demo below. Click anywhere in the image to alter the focus plane.