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You know that old joke that people love to tell you when you’re wearing camo-”Oh, I didn’t see you there, because you were camouflaged!” Well, that joke is about to become a reality, as a North Carolina company has begun creating custom, site specific camo gear. Here’s how it works:
…because the patterns are created from photos that have been taken at different focal lengths it inhibits depth perception — making it more challenging for the brain to see the camouflaged surfaces as a single object.
The camouflage may even receive a further upgrade, with the software firm applying for a patent on an “adaptive” material consisting of a vinyl substrate, a flexible image display that could adjust to the environment, and thermoelectric panels that could modify the soldier’s heat signature.
Now no one is safe, because someone may be blending in with the wall, or sofa, or even your front lawn! Better carry around a sharp stick just in case. On the other side-if you hold still too long you may be exposed to things you can’t unsee, and therapy is very pricey these days, so please use this new camo fabric with care.
There’s a good reason why this Spitfire is painted pink. It helped its pilot hide in the clouds. Esther Inglis-Arkell explains how:
To make sure they were rarely seen from above, these planes were painted to fly just under cloud cover. Although the planes were ideally meant to fly at sunset and sunrise, when the clouds took on a pinkish hue and made the plane completely invisible against them, they were also useful during the day. Clouds are pinker than we give them credit for. We perceive them as white against the sky because the particles in the sky scatter blue light, sending some of it down towards us and letting us see the sky as blue. Clouds scatter every kind of light, and against the intense blue sky look whitish gray. But their color depends on what kind of light gets to them, and what they are floating next to.
Although we see the sky as a radiant blue, the particles are actually filtering out a lot of the blue light that gets down to the earth’s surface. When the blue light is scattered, a good deal of it goes right back up into space, which is why the atmosphere of earth glows blue in some pictures. This filters out a good deal of the blue that gets to the clouds. The clouds scatter what they have, which is a spectrum of light with at least some of the blue filtered out, shifting the overall light ever so slightly towards red. Add to that the fact that the water droplets in clouds can diffract light at different angles, and the clouds are often rife with pastel shades of pink, orange, and green. They look white compared to a glowing blue sky, and a quick glance leaves people with the impression that they are white, but a long look should reveal this shifting, if minor, shades. A light pink plane is safer against them than anyone would expect.
There’s a video at the link that demonstrates the effectiveness of this camouflage scheme.
Do you see anything strange in the picture above? Here’s a hint, it’s not just a tree… yup, there’s a spider in there too. Don’t miss the rest of the great camouflaged creatures in the gallery over at BuzzFeed.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
Chinese artist Lui Bolin has a unique approach to his art–instead of standing out, he tries his best not to be seen and to blend in. We’ve featured his amazing work before and couldn’t resist this photo from his newest installation. It’s called “Plasticizer.” Hard not to admire his ingenuity. Featured on the Wall Street Journal’s Photo Blog.
Canouflage – $4.95
Are you embarrassed by your beverage? Camouflage it with the Canouflage from the NeatoShop. This great set of 4 reusable vinyl can wraps will keep your true beverage of choice safely hidden.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Gag Gifts and Pranks.
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Some cuttlefish can mimic the shape of objects around them for camouflage purposes. But recent research shows they can also mimic the shapes of two-dimensional photographs of objects! National Geographic has a photo gallery of cuttlefish doing their best to mimic their backgrounds, whether natural, plastic, 2D, or 3D. Link -Thanks, Marilyn!
(Image credit: Justine Allen, Marine Biological Laboratory)
During World War I, the navies of the world experimented with dazzle camouflage. The odd angular shapes and lines, such as those seen on the British minelayer pictured above, broke up the visual patterns of the vessels, making them harder to see at a distance. Now researchers at the University of Bristol (UK) think that it could still be useful for land vehicles on modern battlefields:
High-contrast dazzle camouflage could throw off an attacker’s perception of a target’s speed by a wide enough margin to cause a miss, the researchers said.
“In a typical situation involving an (rocket-propelled grenade) attack on a Land Rover, the reduction in perceived speed would be sufficient to make the grenade miss where it was aimed by about a meter (3.3 feet), which could be the difference between survival or otherwise for the occupants of the vehicle,” said Nick Scott-Samuel of the University of Bristol.
They arrived at this conclusion by examining the ability of people to perceive the speeds of objects covered variously by dazzle and conventional camouflage patterns. Participants experienced a 7% greater difficulty gauging the speed of the dazzle-covered objects — which could be enough to save the lives of a significant number of soldiers.
Link | Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Previously: Camouflage to Disrupt Facial Recognition Programs
During the First World War, Allied nations painted their vessels with odd, angular shapes to break up their lines and make them harder to see at a distance. CV Dazzle is a thesis project by Adam Harvey of New York University that attempts to do the same thing with hair and makeup in order to disrupt facial recognition computer programs.
Is that a Japanese Special Forces troop covertly monitoring nefarious terrorist activity? Well, not exactly. It’s all about catching illegal trash dumpers:
When they find an illegal dumping site, they send a stakeout team to watch the spot so that anyone who tries to dump again in the same place will be caught in the act. Because the dumping takes place in wooded mountainous areas, the cops wear camouflage and sneak around like commandos. [...]
The police stakeout shown in the video drags on for 88 days until they finally arrest one man who is dumping a small load of trash.
Japan Probe has the video clip: Link [embedded Daily Motion, in Japanese, but you'll get the gist]
We are all familiar with animals that use camouflage, but some take it to an extreme level. Cracked found examples of animals that totally take on a different persona. What kind of creature do think this picture shows?
When they become frightened, they retract their heads backward into themselves, causing that bulge that looks like the head of a snake. The snake “eyes” are just spots on the caterpillar’s sides.
Yes, it’s a caterpillar. There are several species of caterpillar that can make themselves look like snakes (although small ones). See all nine animal disguises in this post that contains NSFW text. Link -via Interesting Pile
There’s a caterpillar in this photograph taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Can you see it? Better yet, can you identify it? From Flickr user WohinAuswandern. Link -via TYWKIWDBI
Photo: d.billy [Flickr]
Shaun Usher wrote a nifty post about a few unusual air conditioners from around the world – from the high-brow art/AC unit from LG to the Dunstable Wind Catcher, which is based on ancient Persian technology.
I, on the other hand, am immediately drawn to "Televox," a clever camouflage of a window unit by street artist d. billy in Brooklyn New York: Link – Thanks Dave!
Previously on Neatorama: Ghetto Car Air Conditioning
After you’ve hunted your mate and got him to agree to marry you, what’s a good huntress to do about her wedding dress?
Here’s a custom-designed camouflage wedding dress by Erika Sárközi that will surely strike fear into the heart of the prey, … er groom. (Photography: visual Images)
Many more Camouflage Wedding photos at Tacky Weddings | More Terribly Trashy Tuxes at Rue the Day!
Urban camouflage is a fantastic new art form. Weburbanist has a wonderful collection of a variety of fantastic examples of modern and somewhat pointless camo.
Just a pile of rubbish? Would you believe that it’s actually a US Army HQ during World War II, disguised by architect Sir Basil Spence?
StrangeHarvest has a couple of interesting photos of such military deceptions from Masquerade: The amazing camouflage deceptions of World War II
(If you’re into this sort of things, definitely check out Jasper Maskelyne, a magician turned military camouflage genius who built fake tanks and even a fake city to trick German bombers during WWII)
The Indonesian mimic octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus, takes camouflage and mimicry into a new level:
This octopus is able to copy the physical likeness and movement of more than fifteen different species, including sea snakes, lionfish, flatfish, brittle stars, giant crabs, sea shells, stingrays, jellyfish, sea anemones, and mantis shrimp. This animal is so intelligent that it is able to discern which dangerous sea creature to impersonate that will present the greatest threat to its current possible predator.
Ursi’s Blog has the video clip of the mimic octopus in action: Link [embedded YouTube clip]
