Optical camouflage is in a primitive stage of development, with prototypes dating back to the late 1980s. The most intriguing prototypes were created by the Tachi Lab of the University of Tokyo, but require a large amount of external hardware and are only convincing from a certain angle. Creating comprehensive optical camouflage would require sophisticated nanotechnology and phase matrix optics. Optical camouflage may be most useful in space environments.
Optical camouflage is a hypothetical type of camouflage currently active in only a very primitive stage of development. The idea is relatively simple: create the illusion of invisibility by covering an object with something that projects the scene directly behind that object.
While optical is a term that technically refers to all forms of light, most proposed forms of optical camouflage would only provide invisibility in the visible portion of the spectrum. Examples of prototypes and proposed designs of optical camouflage devices date back to at least the late 1980s, and the concept began appearing in fiction in the late 1990s.
The most intriguing optical camouflage prototypes were created by the Tachi Lab of the University of Tokyo, under the supervision of professors Susumu Tachi, Masahiko Inami and Naoki Kawakami. Their prototype uses an external camera positioned behind the hidden object to record a scene, which it then transmits to a computer for image processing. The computer sends the image to an external projector which projects the image onto a person wearing a special retroreflective coat. This can lead to different results depending on the quality of the camera, projector and coat, but convincing illusions were being created in the late 1990s. The downside is the large amount of external hardware required, coupled with the fact that the illusion is only convincing when viewed from a certain angle.
Creating comprehensive optical camouflage across the visible light spectrum would require a jacket or suit covered by tiny cameras and projectors, programmed to gather visual data from a multitude of different angles and project the collected images outward in an equally elevated in different directions for the illusion of invisibility from all angles. For a surface subject to bending such as a flexible suit, it would require an enormous amount of computing power and embedded sensors to continuously project the correct images in all directions. This would almost certainly require sophisticated nanotechnology, as our computers, projectors and cameras are not yet miniaturized enough to meet these conditions.
While the suit described above provides a convincing illusion to the naked eye of a human observer, more sophisticated machinery would be required to create perfect illusions in other electromagnetic bands, such as the infrared band. Sophisticated target tracking software could ensure that the majority of computing power is concentrated on projecting false images in those directions where observers are most likely to be present, creating the most realistic illusion possible.
Creating a truly realistic optical illusion would likely require phase matrix optics, which would project light of a specific amplitude and phase and thus provide even greater levels of invisibility. We may end up finding that optical camouflage is most useful in the space environment, where any given background is generally less complex than terrestrial backgrounds and therefore easier to record, process, and project.
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