Invisibility Cloak could be a reality in near future.

Who you rather be? A human with an ability to be super-fast? Or you preferably have strength like Hulk? Maybe flying like Superman is more your style? Better yet have the ability to vanish whenever you please may be up your alley? All this may have created a hype in your mind about the fictional characters you may have seen growing up. No, it’s not all fictitious but with technology, it may be possible. Scientists advancing in their respective fields may have brought us be one step closer to being invisible.

Growing up we watched movies, cartoons, and read comics that presented different characters possessing such superpowers. Even when the concept of invisibility cloak presented itself in the movie, “Harry Potter” individuals started to be inquisitive about whether in future it may be probable. Drooling over the fact that Harry Potter got away with his somewhat unethical actions by using his invisibility cloak, one might start to wonder what if I owned such piece of clothing. Will I ever be able to vanish and spook people out or go anywhere undetected? Maybe. Traveling around the world would have been a lot easier if that was the case.

If one day you find yourself in a situation where you wouldn’t want to be and you had a choice of simply vanishing from the scene, or to be able to avoid certain people. Even if you are just an introvert and would like to have your own universe, your space away from the world maybe. In that case wouldn’t it be a dream come true? This might sound like a figment of the imagination but in reality, it may be not far-fetched at all. The motivated scientists are trying to make this surreal dream a reality.

The fact that researchers are finding new ways to achieve their goal of an invisibility cloak/ textile, researchers at Berkeley Lab may be onto something with their high-tech cloak. Xiang Zhang, a principal investigator with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and director of University of California (UC), has apparently fashioned a “Carpet Cloak”. This creation revolves around the idea of invisibility. The cloak is formed with retro-reflective projection technology.

The technology works with the assistance of a camera which is fitted on the back side of the cloak. This camera captures and records the movement and activity which is befalling at the backend of the wearer. Moreover, whatever actions are recorded are then projected onto the front of the fabric. This whole phenomenon negates the presence of the wearer with the illusion of the background. For additional benefit, the cloak is designed to be super light and extra thin.

In the early stages of the research, the prototype fabric was designed to be 80 nanometers but the team at Berkeley Lab has successfully progressed that tiny model into a coat. With these advances from prototype to the actual coat fabric, the technology has been updated. A certain reassuring assortment of mirrors has been added which has inclined their capability to conform to an item of arbitrary dimensions and proportions. The creation of the cloak comprises of gold Nano-antennas and mirrors, which can transform any object of random shape and dimensions into a flat mirror. This technology eliminates the handicap of working with limited angles and directions. This cloak has the benefit of having an immediate quick access on/ off switch as well.

Xiang Zhang further states that he wants to help in installing this technology into helicopters, cars and other motor vehicles. According to his perspective, this technology can help in eliminating accidents. This piece of clothing can be devised according to vehicles so that it can be fitted into the blind spots. By doing that it would automatically abstain a significant number of accidents.

Additionally, he wishes to install such navigation system in relation to retro-reflective projection technology so that it may ease the driving of a regular citizen as the distances of outside surrounding would be visible to the driver. This would evidently also evade the opportunity to strike with unseen obstacles. Next time, when you watch a movie do not confine yourself by thinking that this is fiction. If scientists keep on advancing like this, pretty soon there will be advanced technologies converting individuals into superheroes.