5 ms·

So the power from the optical system is spread over the retina by the MEMS mirrors. What happens if the laser stays on and one or both of the scanners stops?

• willis936 7y ago
  This is the first scary question that everyone asks with these devices, because the answer is "you burn a hole in your retina". It is an inherent danger in the system, but I would be interested in reading a full risk analysis on this type of system. Industrial processes always have risk analysis and avoidance, with failsafe for all possible failure modes being desired. I wonder what kind of hardware failsafes you could put into this. You never, under any circumstances, want to burn someone's eye. But you also don't want someone's expensive toy to brick itself because they jumped with it on.
  • mcguire 7y ago
    https://journal.burningman.org/2015/03/black-rock-city/tales-from-the-playa/theres-a-black-dot-in-the-middle-of-everything-i-see/ https://journal.burningman.org/2015/03/black-rock-city/tales...
• krenzo 7y ago
  That is a failure that could potentially result in damage to the eye. MEMS mirrors have built-in angle sensors, and when these report that there's irregular or no detected movement in one or both directions, the lasers are turned off. The lasers in a MEMS mirror near-eye display operate in the microwatt range. Low power laser pointers operate in the milliwatt range, and the safety mechanism for those is that your eyelid is expected to shut to block off the laser in less than a second. Therefore, you have more time to shut your eyelids or remove your eye from the MEMS mirror display if there's a failure and the lasers fail to shut off.
• AndrewKemendo 7y ago
  You close your eyes immediately and take the glasses off, just like when an errant sunlight reflection hits your eyes just right.