7 ms·

A Patent for a Wireless Taser Could Signal a New Competitor

12 points by IntronExon 9y ago

mmcconnell1618 9y ago
From the article, it sounds like the shock is triggered wirelessly from a projectile that is conventionally fired at the target person. The person who fired the projectile has the ability to trigger the shock or to wait and see if the targeted person complies first. The actual charge is not sent wirelessly. I was hoping this was some kind of "phasers on stun" breakthrough.
- Natsu 9y ago
  In theory you could use one or more lasers to ionize the air and potentially make it conductive enough to zap someone. In practice, I expect there would be a serious risk of eye damage for everyone involved and it would probably be unworkable, but who knows?
  - Qworg 9y ago
    You could also send a thin wire, then vaporize it to create the ion channel. =)
    - Natsu 9y ago
      I think some existing stun guns work in that manner? Granted, they might not vaporize the wire. Still an interesting idea.
rm_-rf_slash 9y ago
Considering how often my Bluetooth speakers get confused between my computer and the two iPhones in the house, a wireless device that can emit lethal amounts of electricity scares the shit out of me. I know comments are gonna come out of the woodwork about the difference between Bluetooth and wireless tech they use. Whatever. Like you’ve never written bugs.
- theknarf 9y ago
  I agree; that is problematic. At least the article hinted at the possibility to have a built-in time limit to avoid a deadly dose. Hopefully, this might lover the number of deaths from tasers.
alexnewman 9y ago
signel or signal
- IntronExon 9y ago
  My bad, sorry!
sova 9y ago
Fuck tazers and their brutal outcomes. Fuck Taser Corporation's [now "Axon"] coverup of all the lethal dosages of electricity from their devices.
- Fins 9y ago
  Right. Let's just shoot everyone with real bullets! Much, much better.
  - fg8qfg8fg8 9y ago
    false dichotomy
  - gleenn 9y ago
    Perhaps not shooting people at all would be a better start. Can't find the link but I've seen some videos applauding police doing de-escalation work that worked well, think it was in Europe.
    - Fins 9y ago
      That would be a better approach, for sure, but it works much better in Europe, or Japan -- places where the general population is very unlikely to have guns. Europe also has better mental health support systems, so they have fewer crazy people on the streets, too. Until those are fixed, Tazer seems to be a "good enough" option.
      - sova 9y ago
        More than half of the people who get the police called on them in the United States need mental and psyche help, not traumatization and incarceration
        Fins 9y ago
        Yes, and you really need to do it well before the police gets involved.
hliyan 9y ago
I hope they've thought about targets using wireless jammers, or worse yet, someone hacking the signal...
SlowBro 9y ago
Does the projectile store the charge in a supercap or something?
imglorp 9y ago
The real "phasers on stun" wireless method may be the laser-induced plasma channel: a brief UV pulse ionizes the air, making a conductive path over which an electrical current can be sent. There's a lot of applications of this, from stopping people to HERF-ing things, but none have made it to market yet... Maybe it's a hard problem? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolaser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolaser

12 points by IntronExon 9y ago

From the article, it sounds like the shock is triggered wirelessly from a projectile that is conventionally fired at the target person. The person who fired the projectile has the ability to trigger the shock or to wait and see if the targeted person complies first. The actual charge is not sent wirelessly. I was hoping this was some kind of "phasers on stun" breakthrough.

Natsu 9y ago
In theory you could use one or more lasers to ionize the air and potentially make it conductive enough to zap someone. In practice, I expect there would be a serious risk of eye damage for everyone involved and it would probably be unworkable, but who knows?
- Qworg 9y ago
  You could also send a thin wire, then vaporize it to create the ion channel. =)
  - Natsu 9y ago
    I think some existing stun guns work in that manner? Granted, they might not vaporize the wire. Still an interesting idea.

rm_-rf_slash 9y ago

Considering how often my Bluetooth speakers get confused between my computer and the two iPhones in the house, a wireless device that can emit lethal amounts of electricity scares the shit out of me. I know comments are gonna come out of the woodwork about the difference between Bluetooth and wireless tech they use. Whatever. Like you’ve never written bugs.

theknarf 9y ago
I agree; that is problematic. At least the article hinted at the possibility to have a built-in time limit to avoid a deadly dose. Hopefully, this might lover the number of deaths from tasers.

alexnewman 9y ago

signel or signal

IntronExon 9y ago
My bad, sorry!

sova 9y ago

Fuck tazers and their brutal outcomes. Fuck Taser Corporation's [now "Axon"] coverup of all the lethal dosages of electricity from their devices.

Fins 9y ago
Right. Let's just shoot everyone with real bullets! Much, much better.
- fg8qfg8fg8 9y ago
  false dichotomy
- gleenn 9y ago
  Perhaps not shooting people at all would be a better start. Can't find the link but I've seen some videos applauding police doing de-escalation work that worked well, think it was in Europe.
  - Fins 9y ago
    That would be a better approach, for sure, but it works much better in Europe, or Japan -- places where the general population is very unlikely to have guns. Europe also has better mental health support systems, so they have fewer crazy people on the streets, too. Until those are fixed, Tazer seems to be a "good enough" option.
    - sova 9y ago
      More than half of the people who get the police called on them in the United States need mental and psyche help, not traumatization and incarceration
      - Fins 9y ago
        Yes, and you really need to do it well before the police gets involved.

hliyan 9y ago

I hope they've thought about targets using wireless jammers, or worse yet, someone hacking the signal...

SlowBro 9y ago

Does the projectile store the charge in a supercap or something?

imglorp 9y ago

The real "phasers on stun" wireless method may be the laser-induced plasma channel: a brief UV pulse ionizes the air, making a conductive path over which an electrical current can be sent. There's a lot of applications of this, from stopping people to HERF-ing things, but none have made it to market yet... Maybe it's a hard problem? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolaser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolaser