The fascination with cloaking objects from the naked eye has existed for hundreds of years. University of Rochester researchers have formulated a way to use lenses for invisibility. The process involves four lenses that are arranged in a certain way that bends light around the object. The only drawback is that the foci of the lenses cannot be obstructed-then the object is visible.

This technology most likely won’t make invisibility cloaks similar to those in Harry Potter a reality, but has the potential to make many tasks easier. For example, surgeons can use this technology to see around their hands when operating on a patient. Furthermore, these cloaking devices could make the pesky blind spot that cars have a thing of the past. This simple idea can make many lives easier.

Written by Dimitri Vasilkov’15