Cloaking device uses ordinary lenses to hide objects across range of angles
http://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/watch-rochester-cloak-uses-ordinary-lenses-to-hide-objects-across-continuous-range-of-angles-70592/
Inspired perhaps by Harry Potters invisibility cloak, scientists have recently developed several wayssome simple and some involving new technologiesto hide objects from view. The latest effort, developed at the University of Rochester, not only overcomes some of the limitations of previous devices, but it uses inexpensive, readily available materials in a novel configuration.
Thereve been many high tech approaches to cloaking and the basic idea behind these is to take light and have it pass around something as if it isnt there, often using high-tech or exotic materials, said John Howell, a professor of physics at the University of Rochester. Forgoing the specialized components, Howell and graduate student Joseph Choi developed a combination of four standard lenses that keeps the object hidden as the viewer moves up to several degrees away from the optimal viewing position.
This is the first device that we know of that can do three-dimensional, continuously multidirectional cloaking, which works for transmitting rays in the visible spectrum, said Choi, a PhD student at Rochesters Institute of Optics.
Many cloaking designs work fine when you look at an object straight on, but if you move your viewpoint even a little, the object becomes visible, explains Howell. Choi added that previous cloaking devices can also cause the background to shift drastically, making it obvious that the cloaking device is present.
So cool. My first try at a thesis was on a project aiming for this using materials with negative magnetic permeability (the "exotic materials" he mentioned). This is awesome.