A background projection cloaking system, comprising: a background light detector configured to detect light approaching a cloaking volume from a first side, the detected light characterized by a plurality of first light rays incident on the light detector, wherein the background light detector does not comprise both a lens array and a detector array, wherein the background light detector is a camera; a light emitter configured to emit light away from a second side of the cloaking volume based on light detected by the background light detector, the emitted light characterized by a plurality of second light rays, the light emitter comprising a first lens array positioned over an emitter array; wherein the background light detector is configured to capture a background image, and wherein the light emitter is configured to project at least a portion of the background image, wherein an appearance of the projected background image to an observer changes depending on a position of the observer relative to the light emitter, wherein a computer processor of the system is configured to (i) parse the captured background image into a plurality of sub-images of the background image, each sub-image reflecting what an observer would see in the background from a particular view point, at least some of the parsed sub-images each including a portion of the background image that overlaps with a portion of the background image from another sub-image, (ii) interleave alternating parts of the sub-images together, and wherein the emitter array is configured to project the background image as the interleaved parts of the sub-image; wherein the background projection cloaking system is not a ray-preserving cloaking system. a background light detector configured to detect light approaching a cloaking volume from a first side, the detected light characterized by a plurality of first light rays incident on the light detector, wherein the background light detector does not comprise both a lens array and a detector array, wherein the background light detector is a camera; a light emitter configured to emit light away from a second side of the cloaking volume based on light detected by the background light detector, the emitted light characterized by a plurality of second light rays, the light emitter comprising a first lens array positioned over an emitter array; wherein the background light detector is configured to capture a background image, and wherein the light emitter is configured to project at least a portion of the background image, wherein an appearance of the projected background image to an observer changes depending on a position of the observer relative to the light emitter, wherein a computer processor of the system is configured to (i) parse the captured background image into a plurality of sub-images of the background image, each sub-image reflecting what an observer would see in the background from a particular view point, at least some of the parsed sub-images each including a portion of the background image that overlaps with a portion of the background image from another sub-image, (ii) interleave alternating parts of the sub-images together, and wherein the emitter array is configured to project the background image as the interleaved parts of the sub-image; wherein the background projection cloaking system is not a ray-preserving cloaking system.