Активный камуфляж: адаптация к окружающей среде.

Camouflage changing continually to match background

Active camouflage or adaptive camouflage is camouflage that adapts, often rapidly, to the surroundings of an object such as an animal or military vehicle. In theory, active camouflage could provide perfect concealment from visual detection. Active camouflage is used in several groups of animals, including reptiles on land, and cephalopod molluscs and flatfish in the sea. Animals achieve active camouflage both by color change and (among marine animals such as squid) by counter illumination, with the use of bioluminescence. Military counter illumination camouflage was first investigated during the Second World War for marine use. More recent research has aimed to achieve crypsis by using cameras to sense the visible background, and by controlling Peltier panels or coatings that can vary their appearance.

Active camouflage is used in several groups of animals including cephalopod molluscs, Bioluminescence is common among marine animals, so counter illumination may be widespread, though light has other functions, including attracting prey and signaling.

Color change permits camouflage against different backgrounds. Many cephalopods including octopuses, cuttlefish, and squids, and some terrestrial amphibians and reptiles including chameleons and anoles can rapidly change color and pattern, though the major reasons for this include signaling, not only camouflage. Cephalopod active camouflage has stimulated military research in the United States. Active camouflage by color change is used by many bottom living flatfish such as plaice, sole, and flounder that actively copy the patterns and colors of the seafloor below them. For example, the tropical flounder Bothus ocellatus can match its pattern to "a wide range of background textures" Similarly, the coral reef fish, the seaweed blenny can match its coloration to its surroundings.

Active camouflage provides concealment by making an object not merely generally similar to its surroundings, but effectively invisible with "illusory transparency" through accurate mimicry, and by changing the appearance of the object as changes occur in its background. The Yehudi lights project placed low intensity blue lights on aircraft. As skies are bright, an unilluminated aircraft (of any color) might be rendered visible. By emitting a small, measured amount of blue light, the aircraft's average brightness better matches that of the sky, and the aircraft is able to fly closer to its target before being detected. Bell Textron filed for a patent on 1/28/2021, # 17/161075 Active Aircraft Visual Cloaking System, that proposes using electroluminescent paint along with an active camera system to project and control a luminescent paint scheme to blend the aircraft exterior structure with the sky.

Active camouflage may now develop using organic light emitting diodes and other technologies which allow for images to be projected onto irregularly shaped surfaces. Using visual data from a camera, an object could perhaps be camouflaged well enough to avoid detection by the human eye and optical sensors when stationary. Camouflage is weakened by motion, but active camouflage could still make moving targets more difficult to see. However, active camouflage works best in one direction at a time, requiring knowledge of the relative positions of the observer and the concealed object. Phased array optics would implement active camouflage, not by producing a two dimensional image of background scenery on an object, but by computational holography to produce a three dimensional hologram of background scenery on an object to be concealed. Unlike a two dimensional image, the holographic image would appear to be the actual scenery behind the object independent of viewer distance or view angle.

[[File:Adaptiv infrared camouflage demo hiding tank as car. jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|An armoured vehicle fitted with Adaptiv infrared side panels, switched off (left), and on to simulate a large car (right)

Active camouflage technology, both visual and otherwise, is a commonly used plot device in science fiction stories. The Star Trek franchise incorporated the concept, and Star Trek: Voyager depicts humans using "bio dampeners" to infiltrate a Borg Cube without the antagonists realizing they are there. The eponymous antagonists in the Predator films also use active camouflage. In many video games, such as the Halo series, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and the Crysis series, players can obtain and use cloaking devices.