Is a Disappearing Skyscraper the Wisest of Developments?

Is a Disappearing Skyscraper the Wisest of Developments?

Although the technology behind building a skyscraper that can become invisible is an intriguing prospect, is it really worth the investment that South Korea is putting in to building the structure?

Recently, developers have started their plans to design a building in South Korea that can become invisible at the flip of a switch. Using micro-cameras and LED strips, the building will "look" to be invisible as it transmits images from one side of its surface to display to the other. Sounds impressive, until you think about some of the ramifications an invisible building could create. If this technology was a practical installation, how would it affect the environment of the area?

1. Wildlife - As we examine this development, animal lovers have to ask the question, "How often will birds hit the building?" People already experience birds slamming into kitchen windows that are attached to obvious structures such as houses. What would happen if the entire building was "invisible?"

2. Planes - Birds aside, what if a pilot is making an emergency landing and is flying too low? While it's rare for a plane to impact a building in such a manner, a tall enough structure that cannot be seen could pose a serious threat if it's within a flight path.

3. Visual Landmark - What about people visiting South Korea for the first time who are looking for the building in question? Since this technology was originally intended to provide a more clear view of the sky for those on the ground, would they get lost?

Speculation Aside...
Although it's fun to jokingly speculate about the obvious, the ideas surrounding the building idea are very innovative. Essentially, it would work in the same method as the flying aircraft carrier in the movie "Avengers" did when it displayed the above sky on its keel. In order to render something invisible, it's all about bending the light we see around the object.

Bending Light
Technology gives us the power to bend the light around any given object through the use of very sophisticated and detailed cameras. The displays themselves are getting to the point where we can incorporate hundreds of individual pixels of light within a square inch of surface. The only real trouble from developing such a method of "cloaking" a building or a vessel would be from the views at different angles.

Looking Directly at the Object
When you are standing and looking straight at a tree, you are actually seeing the light that is reflected from the tree's surface. If it had tiny cameras recording the imagery behind the tree and you saw the results on a LCD display, the surface could look like it disappeared. However, if you take a step to either direction, the image becomes distorted as the images from behind the tree no longer match the surrounding background. At this point, it would look no more invisible than a tree with an LCD display attached to the trunk.

Although it may be a few years before South Korea "flips the switch" to render the building invisible, the technology that is being used is nothing short of amazing. Unlike David Copperfield's feat to render the Statue of Liberty invisible, this is no illusion, and it brings imagination to the world of technology.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday January 19 2014, 3:47 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Technology. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0