WO2002067196A2

WO2002067196A2 - Three dimensional cloaking process and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2002067196A2
Application number: PCT/US2001/048921
Authority: WO
Original assignee: Alden, Ray, M.
Priority date: 2001-01-08
Filing date: 2001-12-13
Publication date: 2002-08-29
Also published as: US7206131B2; WO2002067196A3; US20020162942A1; US20020090131A1; AU2002246695A1; AU2002246695A8

Abstract

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved means for the concealment of objects and people. Light such as (31) from background objects such as (30) is received by an array of receiving surfaces (such as photo diodes) located on the first side of an object (24). The (31) light being converted to electric signal which is measured with regards to color and intensity. Based upon which surface the received light was incident upon, an electrical signal is sent to a corresponding sending surface (such as an LED) on a second side (23) of said object. The light at (32) mimics the (31) light with regard to projected orientation in space, trajectory, color and intensity. The observer of (32) appears to be seeing light, directly from (30), right through the object. An object covered by many such receiving and sending surfaces arrayed and wired cooperatively, renders the object 'invisible' by observers form multiple concurrent viewing perspectives.

Description

BACKGROUND FIELD OF INVENTION The concept of rendering objects invisible has long been contemplated in science fiction. Works such as Star Trek and The Invisible Man include means to render objects or people invisible. The actual achievement of making objects disappear however has heretofore been limited to fooling the human eye with "magic" tricks and camouflage. The latter often involves coloring the surface of an object such as a military vehicle with colors and patterns which make it blend in with its surrounding. The process of collecting pictorial information in the form of two dimensional pixels and replaying it on monitors has been brought to a very fine art over the past one hundred years. More recently, three dimensional pictorial "bubbles" have been created using optics and computer software to enable users to "virtually travel" from within a virtual bubble. The user interface for these virtual bubble are nearly always presented on a two dims ional screen, with the user navigating to different views on the screen. When presented in a here dimensional user interface, the user is on the inside of these bubbles.

The present invention creates a three dimensional virtual image bubble on the surface of an actual three dimensional object. By contrast, observers are on the outside of this three dimensional bubble. This three dimensional bubble renders the object invisible to observers who can only "see through the object" and observer the object's background. The present invention can make military and police vehicles and operatives invisible against their background from any viewing perspective.

BACKGROUND-DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR INVENTION

The concept of rendering objects invisible has long been contemplated in science fiction. Works such as Star Trek and The Invisible Man include means to render objects or people invisible. The actual achievement of making objects disappear however has heretofore been limited to fooling the human eye with "magic" tricks and camouflage. The latter often involves coloring the surface of an object such as a military vehicle with colors and patterns which make it blend in with its surrounding.

The process of collecting pictorial information in the form of two dimensional pixels and replaying it on monitors has been brought to a very fine art over the past one hundred years. More recently, three dimensional pictorial "bubbles" have been created using optics and computer software to enable users to "virtually travel" from within a virtual bubble. The user interface for these virtual bubble are nearly always presented on a two dimensional screen, with the user navigating to different views on the screen. When presented in a three dimensional user interface, the user is on the inside of the bubble. The present invention creates a three dimensional virtual image bubble on the surface of an actual three dimensional object. By contrast, observers are on the outside of this three dimensional bubble. This three dimensional bubble renders the object within the bubble invisible to observers who can only "see through the object" and observe the object's background. The present invention can make military and police vehicles and operatives invisible against their background from any viewing perspective.

SUMMARY

The invention described herein represents a significant improvement for the concealment of objects and people. Thousands of light receiving surfaces (such as CCD arrays) and sending surfaces (such as LEDs) are affixed to the surface of the object to be concealed. Each receiving surface receives colored light from the background of the object. Each receiving surface is positioned such that the trajectory of the light striking it is known. Information describing the color and intensity of the light striking each receiving surface is collected and sent to a corresponding sending surface. Said sending surface's position corresponding to the known trajectory of the said light striking the receiving surface. Light of the same color and intensity which was received on one side of the object is then sent on the same trajectory out a second side of the object. This process is repeated many times such that an observer looking at the object from any perspective actually sees the background of the object corresponding to the observer's perspective. The object having been rendered "invisible" to the observer.

Objects and Advantages

Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention are apparent. It is an object of the present invention to create a three dimensional virtual image bubble surrounding objects and people. Observers looking at this three dimensional bubble from any viewing perspective are only able to see the background of the object within the bubble. This enables military vehicles and operatives to be more difficult to detect and may save lives in many instances. Likewise, police operatives operating within a bubble can be made difficult to detect by criminal suspects. The apparatus is designed to be rugged, reliable, and light weight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following description of the invention and related drawings describe a means for receiving light on a first side of an object and a means for sending light from a second side of said object. Said receiving means being a photon receiving surface and said sending means being a photon emitting surface. Wherein said sent light mimics said received light with respect to orientation, trajectory, intensity and color. Moreover wherein an array of similar light receivers and an array of similar light senders is provided, wherein each receiver cooperates with one specific sender and each sender cooperates with one specific receiver. Such cooperative surfaces in array enable observers to "see through" said object to its background such that said object is rendered "invisible" from multiple viewing perspectives. Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of three dimensional objects.

Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of three dimensional objects when the object in the foreground is transparent.

Figure 3 is a second view of the objects of Figure 1.

Figure 4 are the same objects where that in the foreground is transparent. Figure 5 illustrates an array of receiving and sending surfaces on two sides of an object.

Figure 6 illustrates a single collecting and receiving cell with 7 surfaces.

Figure 7 is a diode receiver and diode sender flow chart.

Figure 8 is a CCD receiver and LED sender flowchart.

Figure 9 illustrates how the seven surfaces of one cell correspond to seven surfaces located in seven different cells.

Figure 10 is a diode receiver and diode sender flow chart in a first state.

Figure 10a is a diode receiver and diode sender flow chart in a second state.

Figure 11 are the seven receiving surfaces corresponding to the seven sending surfaces of one cell. Figure 12 demonstrates how grid coordinates can be used to calculate how sending and receiving surfaces should map to on another.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of three dimensional objects. From this perspective view, a block 15 in the foreground can easily be detected against the cylinder 16 in the back ground. Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of three dimensional objects when the object in the foreground is transparent. The transparent block 19 enables light from the background including the cylinder 16 to be transmitted through it.

Figure 3 is a second view of the objects of Figure 1. The same objects from Figure 1 are here observed from a different perspective. The cylinder 16 is unobstructed but now the pyramid 17 is obstructed by the block 15.

Figure 4 are the same objects where that in the foreground is transparent. The transparent block 19 enables the observer to see the back ground which in this case is the pyramid 17. The point of these simple three dimensional views is to illustrate that the problem of rendering a non-transparent object invisible is a very difficult one. One image of the background will not be adequate because the back ground is totally dependent upon the observers position. The following diagrams and ensuing description illustrate how the background of the object from many perspectives can be simulated simultaneously

Figure 5 illustrates an array of receiving and sending surfaces on two sides of an object. A first side of the object 24 has an array of hexagonal sending and receiving cells affixed to it. A second side of the object 23 has an array of receiving and sending cells affixed to it. Light from a background object 30 is incident upon many cell surfaces on the first side of the object. First incident ray 31 is some such light from 30. It is incident upon the bottom surface of a cell. The cell surface (not shown) consists of a photoelectric material (such as an LED array or a CCD array). Information about this light is collected electronically and sent to the corresponding sending surface on the opposite side of the object which emits a first corresponding light ray 32 closely resembling the color and intensity of the first incident ray 31 light. The sending surface (not shown) consists of a photo emitting material (such as a multichromatic LED array). Similarly a second incident ray 29 is light from back ground object 30. Its trajectory is different from that of 31 and it is therefore incident upon a totally different surface. The surface that 29 is incident upon corresponds to a surface on the opposite side of the object - such that when the second corresponding ray 28 is emitted, its trajectory is the same as that of 29. The color and intensity of 28 are likewise engineered to resemble that of 29. In actuality, many additional surfaces would concurrently be receiving light from 30 and the process of collecting and reproducing that light is likewise repeated many times by many incident surfaces and corresponding surfaces. This is because an observer may be at any observing angle. Background object 30 will need to be viewable at all of these angles. Note that one observer at 32 can "see" 30 and also an observer at 28 can "see" 30. Similarly, a second background object 26 emits rays that are incident upon many receiving surfaces, a third ray 27 being one such ray. The surface that receives 27 collects color and intensity information and sends it to its corresponding surfaces which emits a third corresponding ray 25 designed to emulate 27 in trajectory, color and intensity. Figure 6 illustrates a single collecting and receiving cell with 7 surfaces. Each cell has multiple surfaces to collect incident light from different trajectories. Each surface can collect information about color and intensity. (Photodiode and CCD are examples of materials which can from these surfaces. ) Surfaces include walls such as 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, and 33 and the bottom 38. In practice the whole cavity of the cell is filled with a transparent substrate. This improves stability of the cell and protects the electronic components while also providing a refractive index higher than air for improved efficiency. Said transparent substrate may protrude out side of the cell to form a convex lens for improved efficiency.

Figure 7 is a diode receiver and diode sender flow chart. The flowchart represents a single surface of a single cell on a first side of an object, a power source and a single corresponding surface on a second side of the object. A light beam 40 is incident upon the surface. A green photodiode 43 receives photons within a first wavelength range, a red photodiode 46 receives photons within a second wavelength range, and a blue photodiode receives photons in a third wavelength range. Intensity of the incident wavelengths varies the electric output of the respective photodiode. The intensity is used by the variable power sources to correspondingly power the surface on the second side of the object. Variable power sources 44, 47, and 50 receive intensity information from their respective photodiodes and sends power to a respective corresponding LEDs. The green LED 45 sends green light 54, the Red LED 48 sends red light 53 and the blue LED 51 sends blue light 52. In this way, the color and intensity of the light incident on the first surface is reproduced on the second surface.

Figure 8 is a CCD receiver and LED sender flowchart. The flowchart represents a single surface of a single cell on a first side of an object (the CCD), a power source and a single corresponding surface on a second side of the object (the LED array). Light 58 passes through a color band filter 59 and then is incident upon the CCD array 60. At 61,64, 65, and 68, filters are used to split the signal from the CCD into three bands representative of color. Intensity of each band is used to control the power sources output to the correspondingly colored LED. On the second side of the object, the 63 Green LED produces green light 57, the red LED 67 produces red light 56 and the blue LED 70 produces blue light 55. These light outputs on the second side of the object combine to closely resemble the color and intensity of the light which was incident on the first side of the object.

Figure 9 illustrates how the seven surfaces of one cell correspond to seven surfaces located in seven different cells. A first side of an object 105 has one cell mounted on it. A first incident ray 79 strikes the bottom of the cell (not shown). This causes the corresponding bottom surface (the reverse side of 81) to produce a corresponding ray 83. Ray 83 resembles the trajectory, color and intensity of ray 79. Likewise 73 is a ray incident upon surface 71 which causes a cell surface 75 on the second side of the object to produce a corresponding ray 77 on the same trajectory with similar color and intensity. Each other surface of the cell on 105 has a corresponding surface on the second side of the object. Surface 89 corresponds to surface 91. Surface 97 corresponds with surface 95. Surface 97 corresponds with 99. 101 corresponds with 103. 85 corresponds with 87.

Figure 10 is a diode receiver and diode sender flow chart in a first state. A multistate vibrator switch causes diodes on the first side of the object to at like photodiodes by reverse biasing. Likewise the diodes on the second side of the object are forward biased to act like LEDs. This causes light to be received on the first side of the object and emitted on the second side of the object.

Figure 10a is a diode receiver and diode sender flow chart in a second state. The multivibrator switch causes the diodes on the first side of the object to be forward biased, making them act like LEDs. Likewise the diodes on the second side of the object are reversed biased to make them act like photodiodes. In this second state, light is received by the diodes on the second side of the object and emitted from the first side of the object. Rapidly switching the bistable multivibrator switch enables the same LEDs to operate as both light receivers and light senders alternately.

Figure 11 are the seven receiving surfaces corresponding to the seven sending surfaces of one cell. The identical cells of Figure 9 are in this figure operating in the reverse. Light received by surfaces on the second side of the object is reproduced to be emitted on the first side of the object Figure 12 demonstrates how grid coordinates can be used to calculate how sending and receiving surfaces should map to on another. Note that once the relationship of each of the sides are know, each cell surface can be mapped to find its corresponding cell surface. On a rigid body, the relationship between cells remain intact. Once the surfaces of each cell are mapped to one another, their relationship to one another doesn't change and can be hardwired. The surface that the 119 beam is incident upon describes the surface from which the corresponding light beam 121 must be sent to have the same trajectory. Operation of the Invention

Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of three dimensional objects. From this perspective view, a block 15 in the foreground can easily be detected against the cylinder 16 in the back ground.

Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of three dimensional objects when the object in the foreground is transparent. The transparent block 19 enables light from the background including the cylinder 16 to be transmitted through it.

Figure 3 is a second view of the objects of Figure 1. The same objects from Figure 1 are here observed from a different perspective. The cylinder 16 is unobstructed but now the pyramid 17 is obstructed by the block 15. Figure 4 are the same objects where that in the foreground is transparent. The transparent block

19 enables the observer to see the back ground which in this case is the pyramid 17. The point of these simple three dimensional views is to illustrate that the problem of rendering a non-transparent object invisible is a very difficult one. One image of the background will not be adequate because the back ground is totally dependent upon the observers position. The following diagrams and ensuing description illustrate how the background of the object from many perspectives can be simulated simultaneously

Figure 5 illustrates an array of receiving and sending surfaces on two sides of an object. A first side of the object 24 has an array of hexagonal sending and receiving cells affixed to it. A second side of the object 23 has an array of receiving and sending cells affixed to it. Light from a background object 30 is incident upon many cell surfaces on the first side of the object. First incident ray 31 is some such light from 30. It is incident upon the bottom surface of a cell. The cell surface (not shown) consists of a photoelectric material (such as an LED array or a CCD array). Information about this light is collected electronically and sent to the corresponding sending surface on the opposite side of the object which emits a first corresponding light ray 32 closely resembling the color and intensity of the first incident ray 31 light. The sending surface (not shown) consists of a photo emitting material (such as a multichromatic LED array). Similarly a second incident ray 29 is light from back ground object 30. Its trajectory is different from that of 31 and it is therefore incident upon a totally different surface. The surface that 29 is incident upon corresponds to a surface on the opposite side of the object - such that when the second corresponding ray 28 is emitted, its trajectory is the same as that of 29. The color and intensity of 28 are likewise engineered to resemble that of 29. In actuality, many additional sur&ces would concurrently be receiving light from 30 and the process of collecting and reproducing that light is likewise repeated many times by many incident surfaces and corresponding surfaces. This is because an observer may be at any observing angle. Background object 30 will need to be viewable at all of these angles. Note that one observer at 32 can "see" 30 and also an observer at 28 can "see" 30. Similarly, a second background object 26 emits rays that are incident upon many receiving surfaces, a third ray 27 being one such ray. The surface that receives 27 collects color and intensity information and sends it to its corresponding surfaces which emits a third corresponding ray 25 designed to emulate 27 in trajectory, color and intensity.

Figure 6 illustrates a single collecting and receiving cell with 7 surfaces. Each cell has multiple surfaces to collect incident light from different trajectories. Each surface can collect information about color and intensity. (Photodiode and CCD are examples of materials which can from these surfaces. ) Surfaces include walls such as 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, and 33 and the bottom 38. In practice the whole cavity of the cell is filled with a transparent substrate. This improves stability of the cell and protects the electronic components while also providing a refractive index higher that air for improved efficiency. Said transparent substrate may protrude out side of the cell to form a convex lens for improved efficiency.

Figure 7 is a diode receiver and diode sender flow chart. The flowchart represents a single surface of a single cell on a first side of an object, a power source and a single corresponding surface on a second side of the object. A light beam 40 is incident upon the surface. A green photodiode 43 receives photons within a first wavelength range, a red photodiode 46 receives photons within a second wavelength range, and a blue photodiode receives photons in a third wavelength range. Intensity of the incident wavelengths varies the electric output of the respective photodiode. The intensity is used by the variable power sources to correspondingly power the surface on the second side of the object. Variable power sources 44, 47, and 50 receive intensity information from their respective photodiodes and sends power to a respective corresponding LEDs. The green LED 45 sends green Hght 54, the Red LED 48 sends red light 53 and the blue LED 51 sends blue light 52. In this way, the color and intensity of the light incident on the first surface is reproduced on the second surface.

Figure 8 is a CCD receiver and LED sender flowchart. The flowchart represents a single surface of a single cell on a first side of an object (the CCD), a power source and a single corresponding surface on a second side of the object (the LED array). Light 58 passes through a color band filter 59 and then is incident upon the CCD array 60. At 61,64, 65, and 68, filters are used to split the signal from the CCD into three bands representative of color. Intensity of each band is used to control the power sources output to the correspondingly colored LED. On the second side of the object, the 63 Green LED produces green light 57, the red LED 67 produces red light 56 and the blue LED 70 produces blue light 55. These light outputs on the second side of the object combine to closely resemble the color and intensity of the light which was incident on the first side of the object. Figure 9 illustrates how the seven surfaces of one cell correspond to seven surfaces located in seven different cells. A first side of an object 105 has one cell mounted on it. A first incident ray 79 strikes the bottom of the cell (not shown). This causes the corresponding bottom surface (the reverse side of 81) to produce a corresponding ray 83. Ray 83 resembles the trajectory, color and intensity of ray 79. Likewise 73 is a ray incident upon surface 71 which causes a cell surface 75 on the second side of the object to produce a corresponding ray 77 on the same trajectory with similar color and intensity. Each other surface of the cell on 105 has a corresponding surface on the second side of the object. Surface 89 corresponds to surface 91. Surface 97 corresponds with surface 95. Surface 97 corresponds with 99. 101 corresponds with 103. 85 corresponds with 87.

Figure 11 are the seven receiving surfaces corresponding to the seven sending surfaces of one cell. The identical cells of Figure 9 are in this figure operating in the reverse. Light received by surfaces on the second side of the object is reproduced to be emitted on the first side of the object Figure 12 demonstrates how grid coordinates can be used to calculate how sending and receiving surfaces should map to on another. Note that once the relationship of each of the sides are know, each cell surface can be mapped to find its corresponding cell surface. On a rigid body, the relationship between cells remain intact. Once the surfaces of each cell are mapped to one another, their relationship to one another doesn't change and can be hardwired. The surface that the 119 beam is incident upon describes the surface from which the corresponding light beam 121 must be sent to have the same trajectory.

ADDITIONAL EMBODIMENTS The sending array disclosed herein can be used in cooperation with software instructions to project a three dimensional image to observers. In this embodiment, the sending surfaces send light designed to make the cloaked object appear to be something which it is not. Additionally, this process can be used in conjunction with projection of background such that some senders send light designed to mimic the background while simultaneously other senders send light to make the object appear to be something that it is not.

ADVANTAGES

The present invention enables objects to be cloaked so as to be nearly invisible even in close proximity. The prior art comprises a long history of art drawn to making an object blend in with its background using color matching schemes. Other prior art is drawn to using cameras o collect hght information about an object's background and then to reproduce that light on a screen or on the surface of the object. None have succeeded in producing a effective invisibility of an object from multiple viewing perspective as does the present invention.

BENEFITS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention enables a military asset to be rendered invisible from multiple viewing perspective concurrently. The background of the asset can be received form 360 degrees or 2 pi steridians to ensure that the object can not be seen no matter what the observer's location. This enables objects to be hidden in very close proximity to an enemy and to remain undetected.

Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope

Thus the reader will see that the Three Dimensional Cloaking Process and Apparatus of this invention provides a highly functional and reliable means for using well known technology to electronically and optically conceal the presence of an object. While my above description describes many specifications, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of one preferred embodiment thereof. Many other variations are possible.

BEST MODE

A means for rendering an object undetectable to observers concurrently in multiple viewing perspectives comprising a means for receiving light on a first side of an object and a means for sending light from a second side of said object. Wherein said receiving means comprises a photon receiving surface and said sending means comprises a photon emitting surface. Wherein sent light mimics received light with respect to orientation, trajectory, intensity and color. Wherein an array of similar light receivers and an array of similar light senders is provided, wherein each receiver cooperates with one specific sender and each sender cooperates with one specific receiver. Wherein such cooperative surfaces in array enable said observers to "see through" said object to its background such that said object is rendered "invisible" from multiple viewing perspectives concurrently.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The invention described herein provides a novel means for concealing objects. The arrayed receiver sender structures disclosed offer advantages for effectively concealing objects while being sturdy, lightweight, energy efficient, and manufacturable within reasonable costs. Said means being able to receive hght, convert it to electrical energy and to produce a corresponding light which mimics the received light with regard to projected orientation in space, trajectory, color, and intensity. The industrial application requires that such sender/receiver panels be first manufactured, then be installed on an object, and then be mapped such that sending surface and receiving surface relationships are accurately established to provide an undistorted view "through the object" is produced when in operation.

Claims

Claims: I claim:

1. A means for receiving a light beam on a first side of an object and for generating a corresponding light beam on a second side of said object, wherein said corresponding light beam is intended to resemble the received light beam in trajectory, color and intensity.

2. An array of surfaces for receiving light from at least two trajectories and a second array of surfaces for emulating the received light's trajectory, color, and intensity.