You can now buy a real-life invisibility shield

It's pretty cool.

We’ve all been there. Spotting someone you don’t want to see heading your way and wanting to just disappear.

Well a British start-up has turned that into reality with an actual invisibility shield.

London-based Invisibility Shield Co has spent years designing the latest versions of it ‘optical cloaking technology’, which can hide people and objects completely from view in broad daylight.

Invisibility Shield designer Tristan Thompson said: ‘The possibilities are endless, but most important of all, these shields are great fun, they’re fun to play around with and exciting for us to make.

‘We wanted to see how far we could push this technology. A real working invisibility shield that you can just roll up and sling over your shoulder? Two years ago nobody thought anyone could do that.’

The shields work thanks to the use of ultra-large precision engineered lens arrays. These arrays redirect light that reflects off the person standing behind the shield away from the observer on the other side.

The shape and placement of these lenses then causes background light from either side of the shields to spread over the shield’s face and be directed towards the observer instead, effectively cloaking whatever is behind.

So basically, it acts like a mirror for the person behind it, but a window everything else.

However, the company has not specified what practical uses it thinks the shields could be deployed for, and instead are focusing on fun.

And if you’re imagining a Harry Potter-style cloak, well, they’re still a little way off that.

The shield is just that, a fixed board with handles for the ‘wearer’ to hold or use to prop it up and use hands-free.

The firm added: “The new shields have also been designed with convenience in mind and can pack down as small as 1/30th of their assembled size, allowing people to easily take them anywhere they want to disappear.’

But disappearing isn’t cheap. While the 8″ ‘Mini’ shield is available for £54, the 3′ ‘Full size’ costs £329, while those in the market for the ‘Megashield’will have to part with £769.

Although it hides several people at once, so you might be able so split the cost.