Patent ID: 8638086

Claim:
A method for detecting and displaying an object hidden behind an obscuring surface, the hidden object having a dielectric constant, the method comprising: disposing at the obscuring surface between an electrode and the obscuring surface a chamber of visual display material having a visual display characteristic that changes in response to the amount of energy applied to it by the electrode and in response to the dielectric constant of the hidden object; applying energy to the electrode and to the visual display material so that the visual display material becomes part of an electrical circuit that includes the obscuring surface and the hidden object; detecting the presence of the hidden object by the amount of energy applied to the visual display material and the dielectric constant of the hidden object; and displaying the shape of the hidden object by a change in the visual display characteristic of the visual display material resulting from the amount of energy applied to the visual display material and the dielectric constant of the hidden object; whereby the visual display material is used to both detect and display the hidden object.