In my high school biology class, my teacher made an incredibly insightful comment that I've found applies to many fields of problem solving:
"If it's going to take 10 years to solve the problem using current technology, then spend 3 years working on making new technology, then 3 years using the new tech. Now you've done it it 6 years instead of 10, just by 'procrastinating' and working on your tools first!"

From the BBC article, we see Professor Marc Levoy's quote in highlight, "In doing so, we have created the largest and most detailed model of a cultural artefact"

Think about this for a sec... they've invented tech that provides a better model for cultural artifacts than we've ever had before. Sounds like a key boost in the right direction for this field of engineering.