A study found that combining a temperature-sensitive dye on a thin, flexible electrical substrate with a distributed light sensor could lead to systems that have the ability to automatically adapt to match the color of their surroundings, as a way from biological Get inspired in disguise.
There are many technical challenges in mimicking passive camouflage systems in cephalopods. John A. Rogers and colleagues designed and constructed such a system, drawing inspiration from cellular mechanisms discovered in cephalopods.
The top layer is composed of a photosensitive dye that is black at low temperatures and transparent to over 47 degrees Celsius, and is covered with a white reflective layer of silver and an ultra-thin silicon diode to control the color of the dye. A base layer contains distributed, multiplexed photodetectors that provide functions similar to the light-sensitive opsins in cephalopod cells. Arranged in an array of flexible cells, this passive camouflage system responds to various changing patterns of lighting in 1-2 seconds without requiring input from the user.
According to the authors, these results suggest that these techniques and how this system works may lead to fully tunable, full-spectrum adaptive camouflage integrated into scalable electronics, with commercial, military and industrial applications.