The magical 'Cloak of Invisibility', which captured the fans' wildest imagination in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone movie is close to becoming a reality soon.
Military agency Russian Foundation of Advanced Research Projects (FPI) has successfully tested a cloth, which camouflages the wearer from being detected by naked eyes.
"The experimental samples have already successfully passed the stage of preliminary tests. We are continuing testing them as part of the uniform of the Russian Interior Ministry's patrol service," Andrei Grigoriev, FPI chief, told Sputnik News.
Without detailing the technicalities of the breakthrough, Grigoriev said that the sophisticated membranous invisibility cloak will not only be used in military and special services, but also find traction from domestic manufacturers of sportswear, as well as a uniform for polar workers, oil workers and other professionals working in extreme conditions.
Practical use-cases of invisibility cloak:
- It's a no-brainer, as the first and foremost use-case of the invisibility cloak will be for battle scenarios, as soldiers will be able to make a surprise attack on enemies when they least expect.
- It can even be used to videotape raw actions of wild animals on the grasslands and forests without disturbing them
- With paintballing becoming popular in corporate team outings to encourage bonding with co-workers, the invisibility uniforms will add more thrill to the fun-filled strategy game.
Next Frontier for Invisibility Cloak: Optical Camouflage for Aircrafts
With the development of invisibility clothes, the next logical step will be to create similar material for aircrafts; already we have seen huge strides in terms of stealth technology, to avoid detection using a variety of techniques that reduce reflection/emission of radar, infrared, visible light, radio-frequency (RF) spectrum, and audio, quick exhaust heat dissipation techniques to deter heat-seeking missiles, which have been put to good use in US military in aircrafts such as F-117 Nighthawk (1981–2008), the B-2 Spirit, the F-22 Raptor, and the F-35 Lightning II.
Now, it will be exciting to see a truly invisible aircraft like the Helicarrier with optical camouflage. Can't wait to see that becoming a reality.
