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ChinaScience

How Chinese students came up with an ‘invisibility cloak’ that evades security cameras

  • The InvisDefense coat allows the wearer to be seen but not detected as human, with implications for anti-drone tech and the battlefield
  • Team says results shows up loopholes in current AI and recognition technology and developers could use the findings to refine it

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The InvisDefense team used an algorithm to configure the pattern that was the least conspicuous to the human eye but could still trick a security camera into not identifying its wearer. Photo: Wei Hui
Zhang Tongin Beijing
Several Chinese graduate students have invented a plain-looking, low-cost coat that can hide the human body, day or night, from security cameras monitored by AI, according to the team.
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The InvisDefense coat can be seen by human eyes but is covered in a pattern that blinds cameras in the day and sends out unusual heat signals at night, according to the team.

Their work won first prize in a creative work contest on November 27 sponsored by Huawei Technologies Co as part of the China Postgraduate Innovation and Practice Competitions.
The project was overseen by Professor Wang Zheng, of the school of computer science at Wuhan University, and the developers’ paper on the invention has been accepted by AAAI 2023, a top academic conference on artificial intelligence.
The coat patterns are designed to confuse AI algorithms. Photo: Wei Hui
The coat patterns are designed to confuse AI algorithms. Photo: Wei Hui

“Nowadays, many surveillance devices can detect human bodies. Cameras on the road have pedestrian detection functions and smart cars can identify pedestrians, roads and obstacles. Our InvisDefense allows the camera to capture you, but it cannot tell if you are human,” Wang said.

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During the day, cameras often detect human bodies through motion recognition and contour recognition. Bearing a specially designed camouflage pattern on its surface, the InvisDefense can interfere with the recognition algorithm of machine vision, effectively blinding the camera so it cannot identify the wearer as a person.

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