Meet LaserSaber, a Lightsaber Clone of Spectacular Intensity
The 32-inch LaserSaber is a polycarbonate attachment for Wicked Laser's Spyder 3 series lasers. Images: Wicked Lasers
Almost 10 years ago, the world scoffed at Star Wars Kid, but hardcore LARP nerds knew he was on to something: Lightsaber-inpired pantomime is damn good fun. And now would-be Ghyslain Razas can ditch poor lightsaber proxies like broom handles and marginally saber-like toys, and go straight for the LaserSaber, a seriously baddass laser device attachment from Wicked Lasers.
Wicked Lasers already made news this week by sponsoring a shark-with-frickin-lasers stunt off the coast of the Bahamas. And now, in honor of Star Wars Day this Friday, the company has released the $100 LaserSaber, which attaches to the Spyder 3-class green and blue lasers it already sells.
The LaserSaber threads directly onto the cap of your Spyder 3 laser.
According to Wicked Lasers CEO Steve Liu, the LaserSaber is a 32-inch polycarbonate wand fused to an aircraft-grade aluminum hilt. The wand screws directly into the company's existing Spyder 3 lasers, whose industrial design already looks suspiciously similar to that of a Star Wars lightsaber. The similarity raised the ire of Lucasfilm in 2011, but George and company quickly backed off from their trademark challenge.
We haven't had a chance to see (let alone test) the LaserSaber in person, but Wicked Lasers says its lightsaber proxy can smoothly light up and light down just like the lightsabers do in all the Star Wars movies (see video below for a demo). The key to this magic: an "an ultra smooth magnetic gravity system" that unsheaths and sheaths the luminescent blade.
Liu explained how it works in an e-mail to Wired: "The laser energy that enters the LaserSaber is first diffused by a built-in optical element. Then the diffused laser enters the internal diffuser tube, which distributes the laser's energy evenly along the blade. Inside the diffuser tube, there's a metal sphere that's suspended permanently inside. This sphere's movement, caused by gravity, creates the beam-grow effects. There's a magnet hidden in the tip of the blade, which causes the ball to magnetically lock in place. The magnetic lock can be disengaged by bumping the S3 laser with sufficient force."
Check out the video. The effect is quite remarkable.
The LaserSaber's tube is made of 1/8-inch thick walled polycarbonate. It sounds like a durable-enough material, but Wicked Laser cautions against saber-on-saber swordplay. Even more importantly, safety goggles expressly designed for protection against intense laser light should be worn when operating the LaserSaber.
Indeed, the Spyder III series lasers operate between a considerably intense 50 milliwatts to a crazy-dangerous full watt of laser power. At this power intensity, a Spyder III laser is arguably much more harmful to human body tissue than the golfball retriever that Star Wars Kid used in his video.
Original Page: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/05/meet-lasersaber-a-lightsaber-clone-of-spectacular-intensity/
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