Illusion Cloak Makes One Object Look Like Another

KentuckyFC writes "Metamaterials are synthetic substances that can steer light in any way imaginable. Their most famous incarnation is in invisibility cloaks which work by steering light around a region of space making any object inside that region invisible. But invisibility is just the start. A team of physicists in Hong Kong (the same guys who recently worked out how to cloak objects at a distance) have worked out how to create a cloak that makes one object look like another. Instead of steering light to make a region of space look empty, the illusion cloak manipulates light in a way that makes a region of space look as if it contains a specific object. So any object within that region of space, a mouse say, takes on the appearance of an elephant."

Comments

Doesnt sound like much?

[voss]

Imagine the ability to make a tank look like a heavy truck at a distance(say to a drone), or a rocket launcher to look like a stack of pipes on satellite photos.

Re:Doesnt sound like much?

[dkleinsc]

Seems to me like you could just make a small tank look like a heavy truck by hanging some shit on it. Ditto for the rocket launcher situation.

Not only can you do that, Bernard Montgomery's Eighth Army did so at El Alamein back in 1942.

Magic: yes or no?

[MrEricSir]

Assuming this is real, does this qualify as magic?

Poor Girl's Version...

[UnknownSoldier]

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/04/art-student-creates.html