Harry Potter Theme Park Open in 2010!

(Video Announcement)

The magical world of Harry Potter will be brought to life in 2010! The theme park in Universal Orlando Resort will closely resemble the visual landscapes of the films, and features rides, interactive attractions, experiential shops and restaurants. For more information, visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter official website!

(Theme Park Concept Art)

Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak Brought to Life!

(A demo of invisiblility cloak developed in the University of Japan)

The cloak of Ignotus Peverell is a powerful gadget of Harry Potter that makes the wearer invisible. It plays an important part in the magical world, and is going to do the same in real life in the near future!

The trick of rendering an object invisible is to make light flow around an object, just like water flow around stone, instead of bounce off the object, which is how people see the color, position and dimension. There is no nature materials that make light go around it without reflection, but researchers were able to create artificial materials, also known as meta-materials, that possess this property.

The difficulties researchers have encountered so far are that the meta-materials developed can only work for certain light wavelengths, while human eyes can see a wide range of them (red to violet). In order to achieve true invisibility, the material has to bends the light of full color wavelength spectrum around, and speeds up the light as if the object is not there, from all direction.

In Japan, a slightly different approach has been developed that renders objects invisible. However, this approach requires a set up including a light reflective cloak, a video camera, a computer, a projector and a special mirror. The application could be that a driver glances backward through the device and is able to see the transparent rear hatch, but this definitely isn’t as portable as Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak.

The development of the meta-material is still underway, and researchers are optimistic about it and estimate that the cloak could come to life within five years.