Japanese scientist invents 'invisibility cloak'
 

A Japanese scientist has developed a coat which appears to make the wearer invisible.

The illusion was part of a demonstration of optical camouflage technology at Tokyo University.

http://www.ananova.com/images/web/42152.jpg

It is the brainchild of Professor Susumu Tachi who is in the early stage of research he hopes will eventually make camouflaged objects virtually transparent.

The photograph was taken through a viewfinder that uses a combination of moving images taken behind the wearer to give a transparent effect.

It's hoped the technology will be useful for surgeons frustrated their own hands and surgical tools can block their view of operations and pilots who wish cockpit floors were transparent for landings.


Story filed: 14:15 Wednesday 5th February 2003
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm...atestheadlines

all I have to say is:

James bond's car did it first!

it's true, but anyway it's cool

wow, is that for real?

nice.. I've been waiting for that :Graucho

If the Japanese invented it you can rest assured it's designed to allow the wearer to sneak into high school locker rooms and/or get nice upskirts in public.

if the pic isn't fake, it doesn't seem that the person is at all invisible, merely translucid ..

but it does look promosing

anyway it's great...

LOL :1orglaugh
Its amazing - it really works!
I totally can't see the soldier standing in front of this strange looking woman with dumb coat and silly photoshop haze effect around her face! :thumbsup :321GFY

rofl .. kinda what I thought too .. but who's to say .. :helpme

I could use one of them when visiting the bank.........

Some of his papers:
http://www.star.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/bib/papers.html

hehe. Me!
Everything about this picture screams fake.
I know this type of coat for years. Its this color changing coat that seems purple in the wrinkles etc.. Women wear it and they look like geeky robots in it - but who am I to say anything about fashion ;)
Now to the details (on her coat):
1. Since when is there a "middle of the road" line at the side of the road?
2. Since when people walt ahead in the middle of the road? What is that? a movie?
3. since when did they start manufacturing such small cars in japan? I know they are small people but look at the size of the car (considering her position) on the lower right corner of the coat.
3. Why can't we see a little of the bike rider through her arm? :)
4. What is that silly haze? Considering the sun's position according to the shadows, it can't be sun glare.

That is so sad :1orglaugh

maybe you're right then :D

it does scream hoax ..

Harry Potter's cloak worked much, much better.

Well it's real, but did you note that it's an "illusion" ? The kind you probably have to wear special glasses to see, because the naked eye won't ?

No you are going to tell us that we never landed on the moon. :Graucho

there's no moon

It's real for what it is. Let me explain;

There is a camera directly behind her.

The camera shoots video that is then relayed to the camera that's taking a picture of her.

The jacket she is wearing is a green screen jacket. Green screens are what they use in hollywood to make it look like actors are on sets that really aren't there. Kinda like a big movie screen.

The camera that is pointed at her then superimposes the image that's taken behind her digitally onto the green jacket.

This could have a variety of uses in everyday life.

It's not truly invisable to say the least and I think the headline is somewhat irresponsible but it's still cool.

There is a link on yahoo now:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...an_invisible_2

I doubt its a hoax.

http://www.gfyboard.com/showthread.p...+vo yeur+tool

i posted about this a while ago

ive read this

Mastering the Art of Vanishing - Steve Richards.

don't believe everything you read

Would this kinda work the same way the movie "hollow man" worked then ?

I wanna get up to the same stuff he did... :Graucho

http://www.jpgsworld.com/gfy/invisiblegoat.jpg

Why would such a good looking guy want to be invisible?

HA HA HA LOOK THIS
http://www.star.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/proj...ges/mirror.mpg
http://www.star.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/proj...oc-okugai3.mpg
http://www.star.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/proj...mages/oc-s.mpg

may be it's trick, but anyway it's cool thing for military use...Good thing to take Bi/n L/a/den, or Sad/dam by surprise ...

according to what pornwulf said, thats why it doesnt look like the exact scene of whats behind her and is a little off. if you take a picture in front of you is the tips of your toes going to show up? or even something thats sitting on the ground a few feet ahead of you? i highly doubt it.

so how much do these things cost anyways?

Official Tachi Lab wwwpage
Tahci Lab Projects

I think these guys need 24 hour security protection and a big budget. :)

That pic is obviously bogus. However the US Military has developed camoflauge that does this already.

Basically the way it works is with optical sensors that transfer the image on the reverse side of the wearer to optical display fabrics on the front side. So what is behind now is duplicated on the front and it gives the illusion of invisibility.

They also are developing the same concept for aircraft, ships, and tanks.

:eek7

OR.... it's simply someone projecting a photo onto the jacket.. Sure is what it looks like to me..

That's what I don't get about why this technique shown here is getting everyone all excited. I'm familiar with the nanotech version with nanoscopic receptors on the cloth, etc. that reflect what's 180 degrees behind them, and that doesn't require any kind of special viewing apparatus.

This Japanese thing getting all the hype looks like it needs to have very special viewing conditions and tools all set up first to even use it. The skeleton video shown on Yahoo would be impossible with either system. That's a pure case of misleading hype right there. It's obviously not his skeleton but it's made to look that way to sell the effect.

Nano Nano...

Heheh that is pretty lol.

Yes that is totally awesome. You'd never see that big green dork floating towards you, she is TOTALLY invisible!!

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Who wants to go in with me and put a projector screen in the middle of the street, project the image of the street onto it, and hold a big press conference and announce we have invented the invisibility cloak?

Could be a big moneymaker and would take less than an hour to set up!

:Graucho :Graucho

Guys.. If you actually read anything on it.. Like the actual article..

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/02/07/j....ap/index.html

"The photo was taken through a viewfinder that combines moving images from behind and in front of Obana, who was wearing a luminous jacket to create the transparent effect."

Eg: It is a photograph placed on a luminous jacket..

And for those that don't know what luminous means, it means it emitting light - the jacket emits light, and since it has that picture on it, it projects the picture out (to a degree).

Cheers,
Matt