DailyTech - Flashlight Causes Vomiting and Vertigo when Shined in Target's Eyes

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Wolfgang Hansson (Blog) - August 8, 2007 5:00 PM

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16 comment(s) - last by iFX.. on Aug 10 at 10:19 AM

The flashlight and how it works (Source: Technology Review)

The Department of Homeland Security is developing a flashlight that causes vomiting

I am sure we can all agree the best way for police to stop criminals would be to do it without having to resort to lethal means. Recently we have seen new taser weapons released to incapacitate targets without causing permanent damage.

Intelligent Optical Systems is developing a special flashlight for the Department of Home Land Security that could incapacitate targets in a couple ways. First, the super-bright flashlight can temporarily blind a person simply by shining it in their eyes. The second method is the new and fairly disgusting method.

The light pulses and quickly changes in both color and duration to cause what Robert Lieberman, CEO of Intelligent Optical Systems, calls psychophysical effects. The effects will vary from person to person and range from simple disorientation to vertigo and nausea. That means being hit with the light from this flashlight could cause criminals to puke everywhere, a total barf-o-rama.

The effects wear off in a few minutes. It’s not clear what causes this sort of technology to work, but that cases of helicopter pilots crashing from disorientation caused from the choppy sunlight coming through the blades of the helicopter have been documented, Lieberman said.

The flashlight, or pukelight as I prefer to call it, has a couple glaring drawbacks. The target could simply turn away, which most anyone who has a bright light shined in their eyes would. The other problem I wonder about is that if the target is wearing sunglasses it might not work and the device isn’t as effective in daylight. However, the light is intended for use at night so the attenuation in daylight may not be as big an issue as it seems.

The flashlight uses a laser range finder to calculate the distance from the light to the target and adjusts the energy it produces so no permanent harm is done. Currently the devices is being tested for ways to make it smaller, it is now about fifteen inches long and four inches wide.

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cool.

By nekobawt on 8/8/2007 8:26:14 PM , Rating: 2

let's see how long it takes for an epileptic criminal to sue the government for injuries acquired during a seizure they had as a result of being shined on.

RE: cool.

By DragonMaster0 on 8/8/2007 10:21:27 PM , Rating: 2

The developers forgot they were in USA it seems...

Anyways, a taser could stop a pacemaker, that's not much better if they get sued because the person died...

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RE: cool.

By jtesoro on 8/9/2007 10:40:34 AM , Rating: 5

"Your honor, the use of the flashlight isn't humane. They should have used a gun."

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Other uses

By 3kliksphilip on 8/8/2007 7:22:46 PM , Rating: 3

I'd like to see somebody replace a strobe light in a disco with it. Think of the possibilities!

RE: Other uses

By JimFear on 8/9/2007 3:31:36 AM , Rating: 2

Hehehe, now THAT would be funny, throw in some brown sound too just for kicks :P

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Be Careful, they have flashlights!

By spwrozek on 8/9/2007 9:52:26 AM , Rating: 2

I want to know how they plan on getting people to look into these things. I just can't see any criminal stopping to look into a light for them.

What criminal wouldn't laugh at "Freeze! We have flashlights!"

RE: Be Careful, they have flashlights!

By Griswold on 8/9/2007 10:12:29 AM , Rating: 3

Cop: Oh my God! I cant believe this! Look at this phenomenal naked girl over there!
Criminal: Where!? *barf*

If its a female criminal, you would obviously replace girl with man (assuming they're heterosexual). Though, female brains work different. Theres no guarantee that their instinct is faster than their common sense. :p

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One thing though

By fk49 on 8/8/2007 6:28:12 PM , Rating: 2

Who are they testing this on?
=X

RE: One thing though

By stromgald on 8/8/2007 6:52:25 PM , Rating: 2

Hmm, I wonder if they do testing on animals like monkeys or pigs. Would they have different/no reactions or are our brains similar enough?

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Permanent hard?

By dluther on 8/9/2007 3:22:45 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
The flashlight uses a laser range finder to calculate the distance from the light to the target and adjusts the energy it produces so no permanent hard is done. Currently the devices is being tested for ways to make it smaller, it is now about fifteen inches long and four inches wide.

It is my sincere belief that every four to five years, people should re-take their driving test, have a doctor perform a physical exam, and take a remedial English course.

It's not that I'm a charter member of the grammar police, but if someone takes the time to offer his thoughts to the world under the auspices of being reviewed by the general public as a source of information, then that person should, at a minimum, proofread his work.

I am what is colloquially referred to as a "speed reader". In most situations, this can be a blessing. However, in instances such as this, grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors act as "speed bumps".

So, while I could talk about some interesting sentence construction, participle misplacement, and misuse of plurals ('devices is'), I'll just offer the following:

quote:
The flashlight uses a laser range finder to calculate the distance to the target, adjusting the energy it produces so no permanent harm is done. The device is being tested for ways to make it smaller; it is currently about fifteen inches long and four inches wide.

RE: Permanent hard?

By Polynikes on 8/9/2007 9:30:21 PM , Rating: 2

I'm a "speed reader" as well, but instead of noticing errors, I miss them. I bet you can spot a penny in tall grass while driving by it at 70MPH, huh?

Funny, they changed "hard" to "harm," but forgot "notices is."

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Interesting

By isorfir on 8/9/2007 8:37:29 AM , Rating: 2

Well, if the Department of Homeland Security drops this project, I'm sure there would be some use for this.

there's always the potential for bulimic raves...

RE: Interesting

By iFX on 8/10/2007 10:19:00 AM , Rating: 1

lawl

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Seizures!!!

By SilthDraeth on 8/9/2007 9:00:54 AM , Rating: 2

Someone is going to get this shined in their face and have an epileptic seizure. Lawsuits will ensue, etc, etc.

To combat this, criminals will have special glasses that detect the pattern, and go opaque and mirrored, and reflect it back at the cop.

RE: Seizures!!!

By dluther on 8/9/2007 3:29:06 PM , Rating: 1

While I haven't researched the various statutes regarding the use of nonlethal weapons and the indemnity of the party when used in an official capacity, it would seem to me that it would fall under the same legal protection as the "tazer gun".

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