Video: Now you see it, now you don’t…

If your superpower of choice would be to make things disappear, you may be surprised to see how close researchers are to making it come true.

Our exclusive video, above, shows a device created at Duke University, North Carolina, that can make objects invisible to microwaves.

The team thinks its technology could be modified to work for infrared and visible light too, making it able to hide 3D objects from human eyes. The way the device steers microwaves could also give a boost to wireless communications – improving signals indoors or underground, for example.

Meanwhile Japanese researchers have taken a completely different approach to invisibility. Using cameras and a projector, they beam the background video onto an obstacle’s highly reflective surface, causing it to almost disappear.

As well as fashioning a coat that can make a person seem transparent, they recently made it possible for a driver to glance “through” the solid door and dashboard of a car to reveal otherwise hidden cyclists and road markings.