Researchers have long drawn inspiration from nature to create materials that have practical applications for everyday life or use for specialized industries or the military.

Now, researchers from the University of Houston have created a technology that allows a material to automatically assess its environment and adjust to imitate its background. The material was inspired by the skins of cephalopods (octopuses, squid and cuttlefish).

“Our device sees color and matches it. It reads the environment using thermochromatic material,” said lead author Cunjiang Yu, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Houston, referring to the optoelectronic camouflage system.

Currently, the system can mimic its environment in black and white, as well as shades of gray, but researchers contend that it could be changed to imitate backgrounds in the full color spectrum.

The skin of the color-changing device is made up of extremely thin layers, bringing together semiconductor actuators, switching pieces and light sensors with inorganic reflectors and organic color-altering materials in such a manner to allow self-determining pairing with background coloration.

Researchers believe that there may be several markets for their octopus-inspired material, including toys and wearable electronics.

So the next time you ask someone for the time and they glance at what looks to be their watch-free wrist, don’t expect them to say, “a hair past a freckle.”

Although the prototype is less than one-inch square, researchers contend that their device is scalable.

The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.