4 ms·

Brilliant and truly innovative stage design, mounting the "do not ever look into those" scan lasers vertically, at head height ... ...

phkahler 3y ago
There are regulations on that stuff in some countries. A friend of mine is in lighting and says their company generally avoids lasers due to the hassle of compliance.
- seanp2k2 3y ago
  In the USA, you need an FDA variance to operate one at events. https://www.proxdirect.com/support/variance https://www.proxdirect.com/support/variance has some info but the most important parts are: - Laser projector must be mounted and have the lowest point on the beam at least 10 fee above the floor and 10 feet horizontally from anywhere a person could go -- this is why many laser shows just do "laser sky" effects that are just projecting wide horizontal lines even though they can do up/down effects as well - beam must be terminated into something non-reflective -- can't shoot it off into the sky - absolutely no scanning the audience -- again, the lowest point of the beam has to be at least 10ft above the floor Related standards: - ANSI Z136.1* ‘Safe Use of Lasers’ (currently available, but general for all laser use) - ANSI Z136.10* (to be published shortly, but specifically covers laser light show safety) https://www.lasershowsafety.info/us-laws.html https://www.lasershowsafety.info/us-laws.html has more info including some about how to possibly do audience scanning with special equipment, but you can see from all of these rules why it's a lot easier to just avoid lasers for events and clubs. Pyrotechnics are a lot of red tape too.
  - dekhn 3y ago
    in optical research you typically end your beam into a beam dump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam_dump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam_dump IIUC at CERN it's basically a big chunk of graphite that heats up a bunch when you drain your beam into it.
- echelon 3y ago
  To a broad degree, the industry self-regulates and comes up with its own safety mechanisms, guidelines, hardware and software controls, etc. I used to be a member of ILDA [1], which developed a number of the protocols, serialization formats, and safety measures. They'll certify hardware and operators, and they'll kick out members that engage in crowd scanning. They don't really have much of an enforcement mechanism, though. In the US, the FDA and FAA have regulations on laser displays [2]. You're supposed to apply for variance, but many smaller venues and operators skip this outright. It can be incredibly dangerous if care isn't taken. These multi-watt lasers can easily burn holes into things, with your tissues being among the easiest. These folks were clearly crowd scanning at eye level. [1] https://www.ilda.com https://www.ilda.com [2] https://www.lasershowsafety.info/us-laws.html https://www.lasershowsafety.info/us-laws.html

phkahler 3y ago

There are regulations on that stuff in some countries. A friend of mine is in lighting and says their company generally avoids lasers due to the hassle of compliance.

seanp2k2 3y ago
In the USA, you need an FDA variance to operate one at events. https://www.proxdirect.com/support/variance https://www.proxdirect.com/support/variance has some info but the most important parts are: - Laser projector must be mounted and have the lowest point on the beam at least 10 fee above the floor and 10 feet horizontally from anywhere a person could go -- this is why many laser shows just do "laser sky" effects that are just projecting wide horizontal lines even though they can do up/down effects as well - beam must be terminated into something non-reflective -- can't shoot it off into the sky - absolutely no scanning the audience -- again, the lowest point of the beam has to be at least 10ft above the floor Related standards: - ANSI Z136.1* ‘Safe Use of Lasers’ (currently available, but general for all laser use) - ANSI Z136.10* (to be published shortly, but specifically covers laser light show safety) https://www.lasershowsafety.info/us-laws.html https://www.lasershowsafety.info/us-laws.html has more info including some about how to possibly do audience scanning with special equipment, but you can see from all of these rules why it's a lot easier to just avoid lasers for events and clubs. Pyrotechnics are a lot of red tape too.
- dekhn 3y ago
  in optical research you typically end your beam into a beam dump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam_dump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beam_dump IIUC at CERN it's basically a big chunk of graphite that heats up a bunch when you drain your beam into it.
echelon 3y ago
To a broad degree, the industry self-regulates and comes up with its own safety mechanisms, guidelines, hardware and software controls, etc. I used to be a member of ILDA [1], which developed a number of the protocols, serialization formats, and safety measures. They'll certify hardware and operators, and they'll kick out members that engage in crowd scanning. They don't really have much of an enforcement mechanism, though. In the US, the FDA and FAA have regulations on laser displays [2]. You're supposed to apply for variance, but many smaller venues and operators skip this outright. It can be incredibly dangerous if care isn't taken. These multi-watt lasers can easily burn holes into things, with your tissues being among the easiest. These folks were clearly crowd scanning at eye level. [1] https://www.ilda.com https://www.ilda.com [2] https://www.lasershowsafety.info/us-laws.html https://www.lasershowsafety.info/us-laws.html