Making things invisible is now possible and real. The amount of research that has gone into invisibility technology over the past 10 years is incredible.
In 2003, Japanese scientists,led by Dr. Susumu Tachi, from Keio University, developed a cloth made of glass beads that when used with a camera, creates the illusion of transparency -as if you are looking right through the person or object. They are working on practical applications of this technology to help pilots land planes safely because they can see the ground underneath them and also to help drivers with blind spots. Imagine seeing through your car like the picture below:
But there are many scientists working on other applications for invisibility. And in the defense industry this is particularly important. A British company called BAE is working to camoflauge tanks.
“The patented system — called Adaptiv — uses a matrix of hexagonal “pixels” that can change their temperature very rapidly. On-board cameras sweep the area to pick up the background scenery and display that infra-red signature on the vehicle. This allows even moving tanks to be effectively invisible in the infra-red spectrum, or mimic other objects. “The tank skin essentially becomes a big infra red TV,” BAE Head of External Communications Mike Sweeney told Wired.co.uk. “You can display anything you want on it — including a cow – while the rest of the vehicle blends into the background.” (from Wired.com article)
And in the United States at the University of Kansas they are working on “electroluminescence” to suppress the ability to see a drone aircraft. (from Flight Global).
Just like the many technologies that we saw in Star Trek are actually coming true, Harry Potter and his invisibility cloak is now coming true. So soon you will be able to make your spouse or your boss disappear.