Friday, July 13, 2012

Pixelated camouflage; or, I see you!

“The pixel print started (like its analogues in high fashion) as a look-book style for the warrior set. U.S. troops had worn the classic, four-colored Battle Dress Uniform and then a three-color NATO design for decades, but in the early 2000s, the Marine Corps pushed into the avant-garde by donning a digital print borrowed from the Canadians. (That one was first tested in 1998.) When it came time for the Army to update its own uniforms a few years later, the Marines' pixelated "MARPAT" scheme served as the model. ‘It was trendy,’ one military textile engineer told the Daily. ‘If it's good enough for the Marines, why shouldn't the Army have that same cool, new look?’"

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/07/camouflage_problems_in_the_army_the_ucp_and_the_future_of_digital_camo_.html

(What attracts attention? Movement and/or color. And sometimes what your eyes and brain are looking for, but that’s usually movement or color that isn’t there, just your eyes adjusting to what your brain says is there.

(Here’s an idea: Dress a whole bunch of soldiers in varied camouflage types and styles and patterns and send them out into woods and deserts and cities for a week or so and when they come back, ask: “Which do you like best?” and “Which works best?”)

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