What reason on Earth could we possibly need an invisibility cloak for? We have no idea. Truth is, it doesn’t matter whether we have a use for this or not, the Invisibility Shield 2.0 is an actual, working invisibility cloak and we absolutely want one.
Sadly, this isn’t quite one of those actual cloaks that you can wear over your body to render you invisible to everyone around like you’ve read about in countless fantasy novels. Instead, it’s a freestanding frame that uses optical tricks to obscure whatever’s actually behind it. It doesn’t look perfectly see-through, either, since you can clearly discern the space being occupied by the cloaking device, but it still makes for a very neat party trick all the same.
The Invisibility Shield 2.0 is made up of a curved sheet of clear high-grade polycarbonate that’s attached to a freestanding frame made from the same clear polycarbonate material. An array of precision-engineered lenses are embedded all throughout the sheet, allowing it to perform its clever optical trick. How does it work? Apparently, the lenses diffuse the ambient light from behind it across the entire front surface of the shield, with the diffused light being what’s actually seen on the other side. Since people, objects, or anything else behind the cloak only make up a small part of the light it’s diffusing (it picks up the entire background), they end up disappearing from plain sight.
As you can imagine, this doesn’t work in every situation. However, if you choose your location wisely, you can definitely leave people scratching their heads about what they’re looking at. According to the outfit, it works best when used against uniform backgrounds, such as grass, skies, and surfaces with defined horizontal lines. They also recommend wearing light-colored clothing if you’re going to hide behind one of these things.
The Invisibility Shield 2.0 comes in three sizes: mini, full size, and megashield. Mini has a curved sheet that measures just 12 x 7.9 inches (width x height), while full size measures 2.25 x 3.25 inches (width x height). Megashield, on the other hand, can hide most people while standing on their feet, measuring 4 x 6 feet (width x height). Both the full size and megashield sizes are collapsible, so you can pack it it into a bag if you need to take it anywhere. They do offer carrying cases for both as an option. Do note, it still packs into a pretty big bag, so there’s nothing discreet about walking into a room carrying one of these things (unless it’s the mini one). Assembling it takes around 10 minutes for the full size and 15 minutes for the megashield.
It’s worth noting that any person standing behind the cloak won’t be able to see on the other side. That means, you’ll actually have to peak around the sides or from the top, which could give away your position.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Invisibility Shield 2.0. Pledges to reserve a unit start at $69 for the mini, $378 for the full size, and $883 for the megashield.