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Possible Safety Measure to stop blindness

jhon57

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So I'm a complete newbie to these forums and I just joined these because I'm building my first IR 300 mw 808nm laser(not yet started).
I thought that since I own a gear vr headset ,and my Samsung galaxy s7 edge could easily "see" infrared why not use the gear vr camera while working with the laser.
As far as I know no one has tried using VR as a laser safety measure so I hope someone with more experience (with lasers) can answer this.
Would this be better or worse than conventional goggles?
Is there any possible way I could go blind if I'm using a gear vr?
Can my laser damage my phone camera? If so could I use an IR filter on my cam to solve the issue?
Is it possible to use VR as a universal safety for any laser?

PS. I am aware of the conventional laser safety and I am going to purchase goggles if the above "hack" is not a good idea.
 





diachi

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So I'm a complete newbie to these forums and I just joined these because I'm building my first IR 300 mw 808nm laser(not yet started).


I thought that since I own a gear vr headset ,and my Samsung galaxy s7 edge could easily "see" infrared why not use the gear vr camera while working with the laser.

Many of us have used webcams while wearing Goggles to both stay safe and visualize the beam. As long as the Gear VR doesn't allow any external light in I don't see a problem with that.

As far as I know no one has tried using VR as a laser safety measure so I hope someone with more experience (with lasers) can answer this.


Would this be better or worse than conventional goggles?

I haven't used VR, but I feel like I'd prefer the cheap webcam and laser goggles method that I've used before. I feel like that'd be easier to work with.


Is there any possible way I could go blind if I'm using a gear vr?

Only if the gear VR allows light in from outside somewhere.


Can my laser damage my phone camera? If so could I use an IR filter on my cam to solve the issue?

Yes it can. An IR filter won't help, if you use an IR filter to block the light and protect your camera then your camera won't be able to see the spot/beam as it will be blocked, thus defeating the whole purpose.

Is it possible to use VR as a universal safety for any laser?

Probably, but it seems like it'd be more difficult and potentially more costly to work with.


PS. I am aware of the conventional laser safety and I am going to purchase goggles if the above "hack" is not a good idea.


See replies in red.

TL;DR: It'll probably work fine depending on some conditions, but I don't think it's the best way to go about it.
 
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No need to respond to the OP's questions...
Diachi has got it covered...;)

Jerry
 
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I would emphasize BUY GOGGLES regardless, not "if" the hack works.
 

Benm

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Pretty much - as long as you can prevent the laser light from reaching your eyes using something like VR would be fine, although the laser can destroy the camera, that's perfectly replaceable at reasonable cost (compared to say, a retina, at least).

If it's practical to do is another issue. Personally i think it would be pretty difficult to manipulate things when looking through a camera, but you could get used to it. I reckon it's comparable to getting hand-eye coordination when working under a microscope: takes some time to master, but with time it becomes quite natural.
 
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Hi Jhon,

I love this question! AR/VR is my day job, so I've actually been thinking about ways to use that technology to be able to provide a useful way to work with my laser projects. Simply using a pass-through feed would be a great way to safely visualize the beam. As mentioned by Diachi above, the problem you'll run into is the latency inherent in processing the video stream--on GearVR it seems to be ~100ms or so. Which doesn't sound bad, but it is enough to create a really disorienting experience. That's why MR systems like HoloLens and Magic Leap are so powerful, because they can overlay images directly onto the real world without needing to process the entire frame. That's not to say there wouldn't be great value in this setup; as you say, it would allow you to visualize an 808nm beam! However, using this type of system for precision work (like aiming at an LPM) wouldn't be ideal. I would definitely also buy a pair of laser safety glasses, but I'm sure we will find some really cool and creative uses for VR + lasers!

Cheers! :beer:
 

Benm

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A bit of delay is unavoidable i think, even if the 'system' is only a camera connected to a monitor they delay usually is at least one frame, plus whatever latency is in the system.

Then again if you have both the camera and the display updating at 60 fps or so, a 1 to 2 frame delay would only be 16 to 33 ms, hardly noticable.

I'm not sure on how useful it is for working with lasers, but it can be useful in general when you need to observe something otherwise dangerous (like dangerous chemical reactions, biological or nuclear hazards and such).

One big difference with lasers is that you can usually have your hands in there while you would want to isolate your eyes completely, though by the time you get to 1 watt++ of blue or green laser light you may want to avoid getting your fingers in the beam as well :D
 




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