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| A scene depicting Active Camouflage from the movie Predator |
When it comes to camouflage technology it doesn’t get much
better than invisibility. While most
people would dismiss this statement as obvious but technologically impossible, a man named Guy
Cramer and his company HyperStealth biotechnology have developed a technology
you have to see to believe, which is pretty difficult considering it makes the
user nearly invisible. Cramer, a Canadian
national, has been developing camouflage technologies for militaries all over
the world for more than a decade. In
2011, HyperStealth announced a breakthrough in camouflage capability with its Quantum
Camouflage material. Based on
photo-optic principles associated with fiber optic technologies, Quantum
Camouflage bends ambient light around the user rendering the operator nearly
invisible by projecting an image of the users’ background. Cramer claims this material is lightweight
and doesn’t require any sort of electrical power source or special training to
effectively operate.
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| A demonstration of HyperStealth's Quantum Camouflage technology |
Commonly portrayed in popular media as cut-throat in its
aggressive efforts to procure applicable cutting-edge technologies, the U.S.
Government has proved far less cunning in Mr. Cramer’s experience. Despite a working relationship with the U.S.
military on existing projects and a well established reputation for developing
a number of innovative technologies associated specifically with advancing camouflage
technology, Cramer claims to have been met with skepticism and a slow
bureaucratic process of paper-work and red tape. Fortunately his priority is not to sell his
technology to the highest bidder; rather he has expressed every intention of
pursuing a development contract with Canada, the U.S., and the U.K, even if it
isn’t the easiest path to choose.
The situation facing Mr. Cramer should raise some eyebrows about how our government does business. How many independent innovators have gone to our strategic defense competitors rather than deal with a slow, inefficient process for developing their technologies domestically? The benefits of Mr. Cramer’s Quantum technology are glaringly obvious even to the layperson and yet he has had to embark on an international publicity campaign to get the attention of the Pentagon. After a private demonstration with a select group of senior officials from the military Mr. Cramer then faced the painfully slow bureaucratic process of authorizations and agreements between the United States and Canada to gain a military development contract for this technology. In the meantime, we can only imagine how many foreign governments have now developed a keen interest in Quantum Camouflage not through daring espionage efforts but after seeing this technology displayed on CNN. If there is anything that should be classified, a light-weight, inexpensive, battery-free material that enables invisibility should be branded top-secret and guarded against theft by foreign interests.
CNN Interview with Guy Cramer and a demonstration of Quantum Camouflage
Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corporation Homepage
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