Sci-Fi inspired Force Field Patented by Boieng

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has been granted a patent for a sci-fi inspired force-field technology which has been termed 'shockwave attenuation'.

Describing the technology, CNET wrote it can protect a moving target like a vehicle or building from shockwave impacts produced by nearby explosions but cannot ward off shrapnel or other material hurtling towards the target. The arc that provides the protective covering does not envelope the object and cannot be left on indefinitely. Such fields are depicted in Star Wars and Star Trek.

The technology relies on a sensor to determine a shock-producing explosion. The sensor relays data to an arc generator which ionizes an area in front of the target, creating plasma that can neutralize the shockwave.

"Shockwaves are traveling discontinuities in pressure, temperature, density, and other physical qualities through a medium, such as the ambient atmosphere. Shockwave damage is more difficult to prevent because shockwaves can traverse an intermediate medium, including physical barriers," the patent reads.

"Damage from shockwaves may be lessened or prevented by interposing an attenuating material between the shockwave source and the object to be protected. This attenuating material typically may be designed or selected to absorb the energy from the shockwave by utilizing a porous material that distorts as the energy of the shockwave is absorbed."