It’s the preferred method of going undetected for a certain youthful wizard, but the idea of Harry Potter’s Cloak of Invisibility has thus far existed only in fiction.
However, a B.C. company has come up with a way to obscure objects to the naked eye, making them virtually invisible.
According to Hyperstealth CEO Guy Cramer, his company has applied for patents on material that can obscure an object or person by bending light around them so that only the background is visible.
The paper-thin material relies on lenticular lenses and does not need a power source. The material has what the company calls “broadband invisibility,” meaning it can also bend ultraviolet and infrared light and block the thermal spectrum.
Cramer says the material could have all sorts of military applications, particularly for special forces who need to enter and leave a location without being detected.
“Snipers, quite often, it will take them hours to get into a place because they don’t want their motion giving away their location to the enemy out there,” he said.
“So with a system like this, they could actually walk into a location, and it would take them less than a minute, in some cases — something that would take them hours before.
“And they could hide in the middle of an open field, something that they would have never done before because you always hide around cover. Well, if no one can see you, they’re not going to shoot at you.”
Cramer says there are other applications for his patents, saying his technology also has the potential to “triple solar panel output” in a different configuration, using mirrors and other material.
He says the technology can also be used for other applications like autonomous vehicles.
Cramer’s creation has garnered international attention. A video published by The London Daily Telegraph has more than two million views.
“It’s overwhelming,” he said.
“I knew it was going to be big; I didn’t expect it to be this big.”