Researchers at Northwestern University (USA) they developed a prototype drone called the Phantom Twist, capable of becoming almost invisible to the naked eye. What is the secret; Instead of just spinning its propellers like a conventional drone, its entire structure rotates around its axis up to 25 times per second. At this speed, the brain can no longer clearly distinguish its shape and the drone appears as nothing more than a faint, translucent spot that blends into the background.

To achieve this result, researchers created nearly 20.000 different configurations using algorithms and artificial intelligence to find the arrangement of components that offers the best compromise between flight stability and optical deception. According to their measurement method, the Phantom Twist is about 10 times less visible than a conventional drone of equivalent size. The original remains noisy and not completely invisible, but the researchers hope to improve the idea further with more transparent materials and quieter propulsion. The goal is, in particular, to allow observation of wildlife or inspection of infrastructure with minimal visual disturbance.