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'Ahead' flashlight | |||||||||||||||||
I've always thought walking at night by flashlight was scary because of all of the shadowed areas. Flashlights that are near your eyes, like 'headlights' don't have this effect as much, but for a person walking with you, they're terrible if you look at them--they're blinding. My idea is a far-fetched, but I want to propose it just the same. Is there a way to get a columinated light from your flashlight to a point in space say 15-feet in front of you to 'disperse' there as if the light were being emitted from there? If you could somehow make a 'fog' at that spot would the light 'bounce' off of it in all directions and provide a pleasing diffused light? Suppose you could have a light with two lasers that are say ten-inches apart and triangulate to aim at that point fifteen-feet ahead of you. Would superheating be able to cause such a fog? I believe super-cooling would work, but I don't have a laser for that. Could ultrasonic sound-beams diffuse light? I don’t think superheating would be safe and I know it would be energy intensive. I believe you'd use this 'ahead' light in conjunction with regular flash-light from your position and the two would fill in all of the shadows and together they could provide a pleasing, not-harsh light. Possibly you'd even have it come from overhead-ahead. I’m nearly certain that the flashlight of 100-years-from now would have to be improved over what we have now—this is my first thought of how to improve it.
hrench, Jan 11 2008
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There are forehead flashlights with multiple LEDs that might do something about a diffused light but a powerful laser system would probably damage the eyesight of an animal or person coming the other way and is probably not advisable.
Have the Chinese make some wrap-around IR goggles. They would sell for about $25 a pair. Retail.
Sand, the forehead flashlights were what I was talking about when I said 'headlights'. If you're wearing one, they blind anyone you turn your head to look-at. Also, they feel silly to wear--I don't know why, but I'd rather carry a flashlight. At least that way if you look at someone, the light can still stay pointed at you path.
I realize my idea has way-huge problems in not being able to be done, or if it uses lasers, not being safe.
Belmont, the IR goggles are a good idea to get rid of the shawdows, but if the person you're walking with also has them, then you're back to the problem of looking at each other and blinding them--even if you're being blinded in IR. I'm assuming that you mean the goggles have an IR source associated with them.
Military style light amplification, not IR with an active source. Russians sell several models for hunting, but in scope style.
I assume they are for watching game at night, since it is usually illegal to hunt at night.