from fiction to reality: this shield is designed to make you invisible

how does it work?

watching all those fantasy and sci-fi movies and wishing to become invisible have finally paid off with the ‘a real working invisibility shield.’ designers invisibility shield co. explains the use of light that makes the magic materialize. ‘each shield uses a precision-engineered lens array to direct much of the light reflected from the subject away from the observer, sending it sideways across the face of the shield to the left and right. because the lenses in this array are vertically oriented, the vertically oriented strip of light reflected by the standing or crouching subject quickly becomes very diffuse when spread out horizontally on passing through the back of the shield.’

in contrast, the light reflected from the background is much brighter and wider, so when it passes through the back of the shield, far more of it is refracted both across the shield and towards the observer. ‘from the observer’s perspective, this background light is effectively smeared horizontally across the front face of the shield, over the area where the subject would ordinarily be seen,’ the team shares.

images courtesy of invisibility shield co.

an anti-riot shield?

beware that the invisibility shield is in no way designed to shield anyone from attacks. it is created to shield the subject from the view, and the shield faces and supports are made from a flexible and non-rigid material. the team reiterates that their shields have not been designed to protect the user from any kind of attack and would not be of any use in such situations.

design-wise, the material is UV and temperature resistant, and it is durable since the same material is used for external signage and marine applications. the team’s pledge to reusability pivots to their shipping and manufacturing approaches. ‘the CNC machining will take place in a facility where 98% of waste and offcuts can be recycled on-site. the shields are 100% recyclable and will be shipped in cardboard boxes which are also 100% recyclable. recycling instructions will be included with each shipment and “recycle me” stickers will be attached to the shields to ensure that all backers are made aware that the shields can and should be recycled if no longer wanted,’ the team says.

the shield uses the refraction of light

successes and failures

the designers mention that a few years back, the internet was buzzing with chatter about independent makers working on turning science fiction into reality and creating fully functional invisibility shields. ‘people were swapping designs, sharing ideas, and some of us were even patching sketchy-looking shields together in workshops and garages. even though these initial creations did not work so well and there were many barriers yet to overcome, it still seemed like, one day, working invisibility shields could actually be possible.

but by late 2020, progress had mostly stalled. with too many roadblocks had been hit, hardly anyone seemed to be releasing new prototypes anymore, and most people appeared to have lost interest in the idea altogether. disappointed by the lack of progress and the continued unavailability of actual working invisibility shields, we decided to step things up and go all-in on our project to create one.’

after going through countless iterations, testing a lot of materials, and experiencing a lot of failures, invisibility shields co. managed to develop a scalable and efficient manufacturing process and created what they believe may be the best invisibility shields ever made yet.

the light is being sent sideways across the face of the shield

the vertically oriented strip of light becomes diffused

the light reflected from the background is much brighter and wider

from the observer’s perspective, this background light is effectively smeared horizontally

the invisibility shield is in no way designed to shield anyone from attacks

project info:

name: a real working invisibility shield

designer: invisibility shield co.

full listing: here

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: matthew burgos | designboom