The longing to vanish has intensified over the course of history. This desire eluded the protagonist in H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man, whose invisibility was permanent. What many desire, much like Harry Potter’s magical cloak, is the capacity to temporarily disappear.

In the early 21st century, metamaterials emerged, kindling hopes for clothing that could provide true invisibility. Despite the development of various cloaking technologies, the advanced engineering required made them scarce, extremely rapid but largely inaccessible. Rather than concealing from the naked eye, these innovations aimed to shield the wearer from a more pervasive foe: artificial intelligence, obscuring their identities from ever-watchful recognition systems.

Metamaterials are intricately patterned fabrics containing nanostructures or microstructures that alter the path of electromagnetic waves. When light meets a metamaterial, it flows around as water does around a stone, redirecting rather than absorbing or reflecting.

However, the challenge with metamaterials is their specificity to certain wavelengths. Early invisibility mechanisms, such as those theorized by John Pendry at Imperial College London in 2006, could hide objects only from microwave radiation. More sophisticated nanostructured materials were necessary to obscure visibility to shorter wavelengths, including visible light.

One innovative solution is Metalens, akin to traditional lenses in manipulating light, but flat and thin. By merging metamaterials with metalenses, scientists can create fabrics that render both objects and individuals behind them invisible. Nonetheless, the complexity of fabrication has kept this technology out of reach for mass production.

The breakthrough came in 2024 with the development of Self-appropriate Photochromism (SAP) — a technique similar to how octopuses and chameleons adjust their skin to match their surroundings. These materials feature molecules that change structure and color in response to light. “Chameleon clothing” became prevalent among field biologists seeking to observe wildlife discreetly and gained traction in military applications, as well as popularity among fashion designers.

By the early 2030s, SAP clothing merged with electronic devices enabling dynamic pattern manipulation, leading to a novel form of invisibility. This technological advancement led mainstream fashion to embrace a more pronounced political essence than in recent history.

In 2024, students from Uhan University in China designed InvisDefense, a fabric that renders the wearer invisible to AI-operated cameras. It employed specific patterns engineered to disrupt image recognition systems, ensuring that individuals donning InvisDefense were not identified as human by AI analysis.

While traditional InvisDefense patterns were static, innovations in dynamic SAP materials allowed for programmability, enabling color morphing and creating ever-changing, complex patterns. AI systems find it challenging to identify this “polymorphic clothing,” often misclassifying it as mere noise.

It’s no surprise that InvisDefense was devised in China, the country with the highest level of surveillance worldwide. (China boasts around 200 million camera systems. In comparison, the UK had roughly 7.5 million cameras while the US had about 50 million in the 2020s.) While CCTV can serve a protective function, it simultaneously fosters an environment of oppression and authoritarianism.

The next evolution in SAP technology introduced extremely thin, full-face polymorphic masks known as polymers, designed to be worn with everyday apparel. These masks mimic a person’s true appearance realistically, adapting fluidly with facial movements while completely altering the wearer’s actual identity.

Initially, governments sought to regulate access to polymers, though the relatively simple technology behind them made widespread adoption inevitable. While some individuals used polymasks for illicit activities, the majority sought to evade invasive advertising, racial profiling, and relentless observation in our contemporary society.

Rowan Hooper is the podcast editor for New Scientist and the author of How to Spend $1 Trillion. These are 10 global issues that can be effectively addressed. Follow him on Bluesky @rowhoop.bsky.social