VANCOUVER - An invisibility cloak seems like an idea more at home in a J.K. Rowling book than a local lab, but a B.C. company has made Harry Potter's hand-me-down a reality.
HyperStealth Biotechnology Corporation, based in Maple Ridge, built a product it calls "Quantum Stealth." Essentially, it's an invisibility cloak.
Guy Cramer, president and CEO of HyperStealth, demonstrated the product in a video. He's seen walking toward the invisibility shield, then disappearing behind it.
The secret is a light-bending material, which can be used to obscure objects of different sizes and colours.
"True invisibility was thought to be impossible by most physicists," the company says in a news release.
"There is no power source. It's paper-thin and inexpensive. It can hide a person, a vehicle, a ship, spacecraft and buildings."
The material can also block infrared and thermal cameras from detecting a person, the company says.
But budding witches and wizards may be disappointed to know that the invention isn't meant for everyday use. Cramer says he's applying for patent protection.
"The intention was to keep it out of the public and to allow the military to use it sparingly or bury it. My concern is the criminal element using this at some point in the future and non-allied countries using it against our soldiers out there," he said in an interview on CTV News Channel.
Watch the Your Morning video and News Channel interview above for more on how it works.
