Chinese Students Invent Invisibility Cloak That Evades Camera Detection

A group of Chinese graduate students has invented a type of coat or cloak capable of making a person invisible or hidden from camera detection. This type of fabric makes it impossible for cameras to identify the wearer. The cloak appears very ordinary and is inexpensive. This information comes from a report by the Chinese news outlet South China Morning Post.

According to the report, the magic cloak invented by the young Chinese researchers is named 'InvisDefense'. A complete set of InvisDefense costs only 500 yuan, or less than 70 dollars. The researchers state that although this cloak is visible to the naked eye, it cannot be detected by any camera.

This invention won first prize at the China Postgraduate Innovation and Practice Competition organized by Chinese tech company Huawei on November 27 of last year.

The project was supervised by Professor Wang Zheng from the School of Computer Science at Wuhan University. A paper on this invention has been accepted at the 2023 conference of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, an international organization for academic discussions on artificial intelligence.

Regarding the invention, Wang Zheng said, "Nowadays, many surveillance devices can identify human bodies. Cameras on the streets have pedestrian detection systems. Various smart cars can identify pedestrians, roads, and obstacles in front of them. With our InvisDefense, an individual might appear on camera, but there will be no information indicating that it is a person."

Typically, cameras detect human bodies during the day by recognizing movements and physical structures. However, InvisDefense employs a camouflage pattern that interferes with the camera's detection algorithms, rendering the wearer invisible to the camera.

At night, cameras use infrared thermal imaging to detect the body heat of humans. InvisDefense contains irregularly shaped temperature-regulating modules on its inner surface, creating an abnormal temperature pattern that confuses the infrared cameras.