How the navy adopted optical effects for 'dazzle camouflage'

The word ‘camouflage’ naturally conjures up the idea of hiding something from view by blending it in with its background. But how do you hide something as large as a battleship? The answer is: you don’t. Instead, you disguise it in such a way as to fool potential attackers as to its shape, speed and direction.  

At least, that was the idea of two very different people who each claimed to come up with the idea for protecting vessels from predatory U-boats during World War I. But did it work? According to a new academic study, yes and no.