Cloaking Just Got Real: Invisibility Devices Sci-Fi Fans Can Make At Home, Thanks To University of Rochester Researchers
University of Rochester researchers developed a simple four-lens cloaking device that allows three-dimensional objects of varied sizes to be hidden under a cloak of invisibility. Fellow sci-fi junkies, let’s just hope there are no Romulans around to steal this exciting new technology.
the bad guy ships on star trek werent actually “cloaking” they just turned all their lights off
— jon hendren (@fart) January 6, 2015
The Inquisitr reported on the news back in September when the cloaking device researchers first announced their invisibility device, but CNN and MSN just recently featured the simple cloaking devices. Interestingly, these cloaking devices are just a wee bit more high-tech than the Al-Qaida “invisibility cloaks” featured in a training viral video that Inquisitr just reported on, and feature infinitely more potential uses, not the least of which could be fun sci-fi toys.
CNN and other major networks said in their video posted Wednesday night that anyone could build their own cloaking device with materials that would cost around $150. Plus, the Rochester Cloak can be scaled up, and the only limit on the size of the object that could be cloaked with invisibility is the size of the lenses people have access to.
The inventors say you can build your own cloaking device for under $150. SEE how it works & potential uses —>… http://t.co/UonS3FoEkb — NBC2 (@NBC2) January 8, 2015
The cloaking device works on the whole spectrum of visible light, but the researchers say there are still some unresolved cloaking limitations that the team is working on.
“This cloak bends light and sends it through the center of the device, so the on-axis region cannot be blocked or cloaked,” said Joseph Choi, one of the researchers, in a press release.
Researchers John Howell and Choi have published the workings of their cloaking device in the international online journal of optics, Optics Express, since Inquisitr last reported on the excitingly simple cloaking technology. The Rochester Cloak team has enjoyed a great deal of international media attention since then as well.
The Optics Express article pointed out specific areas that will need to be improved upon.
“Optical engineering will be necessary to create cloaking devices that work for viewing angles beyond the paraxial regime, have high quality imaging, and allow for increased commercial utility. Nonetheless, a small field-of-view can still be practical in cloaking satellites orbiting the earth, or for viewing distances that are far away.”
The title of the article, which is free to read in its entirety, is “Paraxial ray optics cloaking.”
While this simple cloaking device might not be quite ready for Romulan warships, given the price tag on the DIY Rochester Cloak, I see some reenactment of the Defiant versus the Dominion happening with Star Trek minis in my possible future.
[Featured photo adapted from images on YouTube and Memory Alpha]
