Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Vomit inducing LED flashlight

Pic: A flashlight contains layers of electronic control circuitry, multicolored LEDs, and special optics that together produce disorienting and nausea-inducing patterns of ultrabright flashing colors. (Song Lai, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital)

Another wacky idea from Homeland Security.

From ABC News:

The flashes incapacitate a person in two different ways, says Robert Lieberman, CEO of Intelligent Optical Systems, based in Torrance, CA, which is making the device. The flashes temporarily blind a person, as any bright light would, and the light pulses, which quickly change both in color and duration, also cause what Lieberman calls psychophysical effects. These effects, whose effectiveness depends on the person, range from disorientation to vertigo to nausea, and they wear off in a few minutes.

They are hoping this non-lethal weapon may be in use as early as 2010. I guess carrying a towel to wrap around your head (or for covering up your eyes) is getting to be a better idea every day.

No comments: