Title :
The Digital Chameleon Principle: Computing Invisibility by Rendering Transparency
Author_Institution :
Sony Computer Science Laboratories
Abstract :
Today, invisibility does not seem out of reach to the realm of science. At least, it´s more probable than it was a century ago. There are yet many technology gaps to bridge to reach true invisibility. What does being invisible mean then? In cognitive science, this invisibility phenomenon is called cognitive blindness. A typical example is the case of somebody leaving a meeting room without being noticed by an audience that is deeply engrossed in a conversation. Such a cognitive invisibility could be individually selective compared with real-world, physics-based absolute invisibility. Yet another potential investigation topic linking physics-based and human-eye invisibility is vibration. The approaches to invisibility presented here are within the probable reaches of today´s science. Yet the door is widely open to our imagination, and we can find other ingenious schemes. As the pace of technology keeps ineluctably increasing, recent achievements and progress suggest that the active camouflage paradigm of the digital chameleon box is not just a Utopian dream, but is rather becoming closer to reality
Keywords :
rendering (computer graphics); cognitive blindness; digital chameleon principle; invisibility; transparency rendering; Books; Chemicals; Marine animals; Marine vehicles; Physics computing; Pigments; Refractive index; Rendering (computer graphics); Skin; Space technology; Integral Photography; Invisibility; Light Field; Optical Camouflage; Animals; Computer Graphics; Environment; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Lizards; Optical Illusions; Visual Perception;
Journal_Title :
Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/MCG.2007.21