Bleeding Fiction

This news story comes courtesy of Erik. It describes an invisibility cloak developed in Japan that "works by projecting an image onto itself of what is behind the wearer. A computer generates the image that is projected, so the viewer effectively sees 'through' the cloak."

You can see videos of the cloak in action here and here.

Cool as this sounds, the technology isn't yet up to the point where it's self-contained; it still requires a camera behind the cloak-wearer to receive the visual data and a projector in front of him to project it onto the cloak, as explained here, in effect making the thing a sort of really complex projection screen. Right now the plans are to use the thing in walls (to open up otherwise windowless office space), airplanes and cars (to allow pilots/drivers to see more easily into their blind spots), but as technology develops further we'll get suits with cameras and processors built-in, and the whole thing's just going to get fun.

Delightfully, because this is Japan we're talking about, the developer's website lists Masamune Shirow's manga/movie Ghost in the Shell as a reference. In keeping with my recent thoughts, Ghost in the Shell has a strong element of transhumanism to it, with its key theme being the question of what it means to be human versus what it means to be a machine. Incidentally, a second Ghost in the Shell movie, Innocence, debuted at the Cannes film festival and is slated for a limited release in the States this September and a Ghost in the Shell tv series, Stand Alone Complex, begins its dvd release in late July.