Assessing audience exposure in laser shows

Lasers have been used in the entertainment industry for over 40 years. The laser provides high visual effects such as scanned images and beam patterns to enhance the overall show experience for the audience. Scanned patterns may lead to the potential for audience exposure and the risk of injury, particularly, to the eye, where a person receives a burst of laser pulses as the pattern passes across the face. Although safety of laser shows is increasingly better appreciated, every year a few suspected eye injuries are reported. Prototype field measurement equipment to assess the safety of the laser shows has now been completed. This equipment provides a tool able to carry out a comprehensive real time assessment of a show. Data is captured during the show which is assessed in real time to monitor possible risk of overexposure to the audience. If at anytime through the show a hazardous level is observed, the remote operator receives information on the event that took place. This allows immediate feedback to prevent further hazardous levels from occurring. Details of the prototype design will be reported along with results from an actual laser show.