New product from China?

The rumor about the “Quantum Invisibility Cloak” is going around again on Facebook – what is this invisible fabric all about?

We received requests for this status post on Facebook:

A video is shown with a supposed “quantum invisibility cloak” that is said to come from China. A man proudly presents the innovation, but can you really trust the claim that it is a real product?

The fact check

As our colleagues at Snopes report, this video has been floating around the Internet since December 2017.

In fact, it went viral on December 7, 2017, with 39 million views so far, when the video was posted Shotded Shortly before, it was published on December 4th, 2017 on the Chinese social media counterpart Weibo by 陈士渠 (Chen Shiqu). In this context, Chen Shigu appears as deputy director of the State Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Public Security.

However, the video does not appear on the official government website or on the associated Facebook page, so it was not officially published by the State Criminal Police Office. If you investigate further, it becomes apparent that the video was uploaded a day earlier 瞭望亞太

Source: YouTube

Here too it is claimed that the fabric is “Made in China”. However, without further references to sources and background information as to where this claim actually comes from.

In any case, the text reads something like this if you translate it with Google Translator:

Quantum Invisibility Cloak is made from clothing made from quantum invisible materials and by reflecting the light waves around the wearer, people wearing such clothing can achieve "invisible" effects. This technology can also be used in the military, allowing soldiers to wear like “invisible military uniforms” and avoid night vision mirrors.

Real or not?

Apart from the fact that two different post creators share the same text, there are indications that this is a computer simulation.

Zhu Zhen Song of Star Orange Quantum Video Productions also explained, according to Shanghai Observer , that this video can easily be made with a program like After Effects using a blue or green piece of cloth:

星橙量子视频制作公司的监制竺桢淞看完这段视频后向记者表示，这应该是用蓝色或绿色塑料布来拍摄，再通过后期抠像技术编辑而成的，有不少视频后期合成软件可以做出这样的效果，比如我们熟知的After Effect，以及Nuke和Fusion等软件。
竺桢淞解释了这段视频的大概制作原理。第一遍，先拍摄无人纯背景。第二遍，人物拿着蓝布再拍一遍。然后，用软件把蓝布部分抠除，把两次的视频合成，就出来了“隐形衣”这种效果。

Star Orange Quantum video production company producer Zhu Zhen Song after watching this video to reporters that this should be shot with blue or green plastic cloth, and then edited by the late Keying technology, there are many video post-synthesis software You can make such an effect, such as the well-known After Effect, as well as Nuke and Fusion software.

Zhu Zhen Song explained the principle of this video production. The first time, first shot unmanned pure background. The second time, the figure holding a blue cloth and then pat it again. Then, using software to pull part of the blue cloth, the two video synthesis, came out “invisible clothing” this effect. Similar technologies are commonly used in movies, such as various science fiction movies.

...after Zhu Zhen Song watched the video, Song told reporters that this was shot with a blue or green plastic and was later edited using keying technology. There are already many post-editing software with which you can create such an effect, such as After Effects, Nuke or Fusion.

Zhu Zhen Song also explains the process of such video production. First you film the background, without people. The scene is then repeated with people and a blue or green cloth. The software then removes the blue or green and both images are superimposed. This technique is common in films.

The man's fingers temporarily disappear or moving plant parts suddenly stop moving on the piece of material. If you look closely, you will find interpolation errors very quickly.

There are tons of videos like this on YouTube where someone also has an invisibility cloak thanks to “green screen”:

Result:

This is an edited video! No material has been developed in China that really makes you invisible!