Unique shield makes objects invisible

The company Invisiblity Shield Co creates a shield that helps people or objects in the back almost "disappear".

The invisible shield obscures the subject behind.

The shield, developed by London-based startup Invisiblity Shield Co, uses a series of special lenses to redirect light, making people or objects in the background invisible. To date, they have produced 25 shields and are raising funds to build more.

"We've made countless versions, tested many materials, and experienced failures. But along the way, we've developed efficient and scalable manufacturing, creating developed a stealth shield that we think is the best ever," said the Invisiblity Shield Co team.

Through a series of lenses, the invisible shield directs most of the light reflected from the person or object standing behind away from the observer. Accordingly, light travels across the surface of the shield to the left and right. Because the lenses in the grid are vertical, the band of light reflected from a standing or crouching subject is rapidly diffused horizontally while passing behind the screen.

In contrast, the light reflected from the background becomes much brighter. So when it passes behind the shield, most of that light is refracted. This means that from the observer's perspective, the light from the background blurs the area where the subject should be visible.

To develop the shield, the team tested various lens shapes at various angles, depths, inclines and distances. The final version consisted of elongated convex lenses placed parallel on a polymer sheet. The material used to create the shield is UV resistant, heat resistant and extremely durable.

According to the researchers, the shield works best for homogeneous background scenes such as lawns, leaves, sandbanks and sky.