3. Developments and prospects

3.1 Using transformational optics to design an invisibility cloak

Invisibility, and through it the control of light, is a recurring theme in mythology (notably the Kunée of Hades, a helmet that renders its wearer invisible, offered by the Cyclops to the Greek god of the Underworld), fantasy literature and Anglo-Saxon science fiction, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's famous trilogy (the ring to be destroyed, when placed on the hero Frodo's finger, renders him invisible), not forgetting the famous invisibility, intended then suffered, of Jack Griffin, Herbert George Wells' invisible man.

Invisibility was first used in English children's literature, with the Cheshire Cat appearing and disappearing at will before the eyes of Alice Liddell, the young muse of British novelist...