Superheroes have their share of high-tech gadgets that most of us can only dream about, Remember Wonder woman’s invisible jet, or James Bond’s cloaked Aston Martin Vanquish in Die Another Day? Well the British Military seems to have caught on to the idea. It first began around 2007 when they unveiled the general premise behind their invisible tank. Cameras take pictures of the surrounding area and project it upon the vehicles highly reflective surface using “e-camouflage” An electronic type of ink. The displays on the vehicle are updated in real time so that the tank stays hidden from the naked eye. It is a smoke and mirrors approach that causes spectators to only see the landscape and not the tank headed in their direction.
Of course the application of this technology has many uses such as warships and combat jets. Shields and cloaking devices are in the works for individual soldiers in urban combat. Soldiers on many occasions have probably wished they were invisible to enemy eyes now that technology is roughly 5 years away from being available. The current hiccup is that cameras can fail which would render certain parts of the vehicle visible, but scientist are undaunted aiming for the next step, which is to make something invisible without cameras. These scientist claim that it is entirely possible given physics but that some technology remains just out of reach.
As with most technology that starts out being specialized, it only takes a few years before the technology we crave trickles down to the rest of us in meaningful ways, not to mention significant drops in pricing that make it possible to put inventions in the hands of ordinary citizens. Could it be, that in 10 or 15 years invisible vehicles or “invisible making” devices will be able to be had by all?