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) by counterillumination.
In military usage, active camouflage remains at the research stage. Counterillumination camouflage was first investigated during the Second World War for marine use. Current research aims to achieve crypsis by using cameras to sense the visible background, and by controlling panels or coatings that can vary their appearance.
Read more about Active Camouflage: Definition, In Research, In Animals
Famous quotes containing the word active:
“There is not enough exercise in this way of life. I try to make up by active gymnastics before I dress when I get up, by walking rapidly in the lower hall and the greenhouse after each meal for perhaps five to ten minutes, and a good hand rubbing before going to bed. I eat moderately; drink one cup of coffee at breakfast and one cup of tea at lunch and no other stimulant. My health is now, and usually, excellent.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)