Ok, we all say to wear safety laser goggles, to protect our retinas so we can continue living a life of being able to see our lasers. And I agree, that staring at a dot bright enough to burn materials no matter the wavelength, that we should wear the proper eye gear. However, let me share a little event that took place with me last week:
I went to go see the Optometrist (eye doctor), because I was having a bad vision problem with my right eye. My central vision had become practically blinded, still had peripheral but no way could I even make out any letters no matter the size if I were to focus on them. And so they hooked me up with some gnarly eye drops, two sets in each eye, one is a numbing agent, the other is a paralyzing agent as to dilate your pupils as much as possible to where they stop reacting to light so the doctor can look inside your eye, and take pictures. And so, the experience I had, being a first time thorough eye examination, was pretty unpleasant. I admit, I have looked at the dot from all of my lasers without wearing goggles, but I have not stared at it especially while burning, that's just dumb, right? Well, the doctor shines this light that looks like a nice bar that seems to be like 20Watts of power straight into your eye for long periods of time as he searches for any signs of damage, blood, swelling etc. It felt like if I shined my 225mW green laser at a white wall and put my eye point-blank at the dot and stared directly at the dot for about 5 minutes. The doctor even needed to hold my eyelids open, I told him I could do it but he said that it actually helps him to do it himself. Anyway, my Optic nerve being swollen ended up being his diagnosis, which is a huge red flag for my health, as there are several major diseases which could cause it, although the majority of the causes are unknown. And this is also why I created the "doctor and hospital visit" thread, because my vision has greatly improved since then, almost 100% back to normal. So no, my laser hobby was not the cause of my vision problem, as my retina is 100% fine. Anyway, that's besides the point of this thread. I couldn't believe that amount of light they shine in my eye when they observed me. It hurt so much, I had a few tears, but I guess they should have gave me more numbing drops!
In conclusion, if an optometrist can pump your eyes with so many photons and still expect you to see afterwards, I seriously doubt that any person could ever obtain eye damage from staring at a dot. Does the coherence property have anything to do with it? I would think not, as long as it isn't shined directly at your eye, it would never burn, unless it was a super ridiculous UV, IR, or super powered laser that could burn from scattered reflection of radiation, looking at the dot should not do a damn thing.
Am I saying not to wear safety goggles? NOT AT ALL. Because there's always the chance that you could catch a direct hit by accident, and I'm sure having that many photons hit your retina can't necessarily be good for your eyes, and it certainly isn’t comfortable.
I went to go see the Optometrist (eye doctor), because I was having a bad vision problem with my right eye. My central vision had become practically blinded, still had peripheral but no way could I even make out any letters no matter the size if I were to focus on them. And so they hooked me up with some gnarly eye drops, two sets in each eye, one is a numbing agent, the other is a paralyzing agent as to dilate your pupils as much as possible to where they stop reacting to light so the doctor can look inside your eye, and take pictures. And so, the experience I had, being a first time thorough eye examination, was pretty unpleasant. I admit, I have looked at the dot from all of my lasers without wearing goggles, but I have not stared at it especially while burning, that's just dumb, right? Well, the doctor shines this light that looks like a nice bar that seems to be like 20Watts of power straight into your eye for long periods of time as he searches for any signs of damage, blood, swelling etc. It felt like if I shined my 225mW green laser at a white wall and put my eye point-blank at the dot and stared directly at the dot for about 5 minutes. The doctor even needed to hold my eyelids open, I told him I could do it but he said that it actually helps him to do it himself. Anyway, my Optic nerve being swollen ended up being his diagnosis, which is a huge red flag for my health, as there are several major diseases which could cause it, although the majority of the causes are unknown. And this is also why I created the "doctor and hospital visit" thread, because my vision has greatly improved since then, almost 100% back to normal. So no, my laser hobby was not the cause of my vision problem, as my retina is 100% fine. Anyway, that's besides the point of this thread. I couldn't believe that amount of light they shine in my eye when they observed me. It hurt so much, I had a few tears, but I guess they should have gave me more numbing drops!
In conclusion, if an optometrist can pump your eyes with so many photons and still expect you to see afterwards, I seriously doubt that any person could ever obtain eye damage from staring at a dot. Does the coherence property have anything to do with it? I would think not, as long as it isn't shined directly at your eye, it would never burn, unless it was a super ridiculous UV, IR, or super powered laser that could burn from scattered reflection of radiation, looking at the dot should not do a damn thing.
Am I saying not to wear safety goggles? NOT AT ALL. Because there's always the chance that you could catch a direct hit by accident, and I'm sure having that many photons hit your retina can't necessarily be good for your eyes, and it certainly isn’t comfortable.
