Might not cause damage but there is the Camera Shy Hoodie: https://www.macpierce.com/the-camera-shy-hoodie

Instructions for how to DIY provided, so it doesn't have to be a hoodie.

if you invent some passive way to damage tech by just being in its vicinity. not only would it be illegal. it would be a super weapon.

What you describe is simply not possible with a passive material. Funnily your example of something shooting lasers is probably the only thing that could come close to actual damage

The most you can do is one of those adversarial patterns that just confuses the white balance and autofocus. There is nothing you can do to affect someone shooting in manual mode

If you could damage a camera by pointing it at something, the manufacturer would fix the issue before selling it, because no one is buying a camera that does.

1. Create sentient AI
2. Let AI take control of the internet upon receiving the QR code
3. Wear your t-shirt containing the QR code, show it to a camera connected to the internet
4. Now AI takes over the world

Black Mirror S7E4 - Plaything

My dude is trying to create a shirt that just continuously recharges and fires EMPs lol

It's not possible to damage cameras passively, so there isn't an answer. But if it was possible it probably would be made illegal to wear those around cameras.

I think it depends on whether it’s active or passive. Active - e.g. a laser that damages a camera sensor, then yes, your device is actively damaging someone else’s camera - deliberate property damage. Passive - e.g. reflective strips so the exposure is bad, a pattern that is hard to focus on or similar- that’s fine - camera owner is making a decision to expose their gear to the environment. Even if, say, it’s a changing pattern that deceives the autofocus into working constantly (no, I don’t know exactly how that would work, but it’s the best I can think of at short notice) so it wears out faster.

ITT: People debating whether such a shirt is possible and not answering the actual question.

I was watching a dude on TV just now whose shirt pattern was going apeshit because of the camera

Probably aliasing aka moiré effect. Harmless to the equipment.

Also, is there anything like this scenario in real life/law?

Speed bumps do something similar? Entirely passive, harmless, untill encountering certain equipment - a vehicle.

Creating something that damages nearby electronics? Yeah, that's probably not going to fly. It really doesn't matter if it only damages things that actively film/photograph you. Like, it'd be illegal if I walked up and hammered every camera that photographed me too.

Strap a lidar emitter to yourself. Those car sensors have been shown to damage cameras.

If you want privacy from cameras, there are those hats with strong ir leds. Not sure how well they work.

There, technically, hypothetically, could be a situation where such shirt is possible. But it would require a bug in the camera firmware, which would probably work on just one camera model. For example, a shirt with a pattern that tricks the camera into detecting more faces than it was designed to, causing a buffer overflow and a crash. Reasonable, although extremely unlikely

Damaging a camera is very different from something that makes taking a picture impossible. It doesn't matter if it is passive or active, only the end result is important.

A celebrity might get away with it when just trying to get home but would probably be required to pay for damage to the camera. Anyone at a large venue is going to be ruining everyone's cameras and that would be a huge deal.

A similar thing that might be possible is to create a shirt that shows something that exploits a vulnerability in software. Some hardware can be bricked by software (this used to be the case for MacBook batteries).

Best i can do is an Elton John style jacket. Dazzle them to hell and back.

Looking to get an eicar QR code shirt?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIcbAMO6sxo

OK you're going to need CO2 gas, 2 mirrors, a glass. Container and a high voltage capacitor.

...
Step 3454674) charge the capacitor to 60078V.

Step 5746678) now run!

No

maybe if its wearing a shirt with radioactive elements, usually its lethal amounts.

Yes it would be. You're wearing it with clear intent of damaging equipment.

This reminds me of a movie or a tv show where people were sneaking into a compound and disabled the security cameras with a laser pointer.

Pretty sure those devices that block cellphone and radio signals are illegal in public and people have gotten in legal trouble for that

There are things that damage a camera when you point at them, but they aren’t passive. Things like x-ray sources could do that. Also the sun.

So no, even if you reflected 100% of the light from the flash back into the lens, there’s just not enough of it to do any damage.

If you were somehow able to focus all of it on one single pixel on the sensor, you might be able to damage that pixel, but that would require a large piece of optical equipment basically on top of the camera.

Invent?!? Bro, just use infrared LEDs 😂

The FCC has (had? Do they still exist?) rules about this, very straightforward.

I just recently read a short story with a similar concept, all pictures and videos have been banned since there was found to be images that will kill anyone when they look at them.

When I get back to my anthology book I’ll look up what one it was, it’s in the Big Book of CyberPunk.

Linky to the story

Yeah even if it wasnt ilegal i bet people would find a way to charge you for it or stop you from using it to protect yourself.

Take the simple option of putting on a balaclava and smashing the cameras.

To those saying it's not possible - modern cameras are highly complicated devices, constantly using little motors to change focus and exposure, driven by AI informed algorithms. Leave it up to some nerd to device a pattern and/or material that could maybe drive those sensors and motors nuts, or something like that.