Development of a detector system to assess audience and occupational exposures at laser shows

Lasers have been used in the entertainment industry for over 40 yr. The laser provides high visual effects such as scanned images and beam patterns to enhance the overall show experience for the audience. Every year, a few suspected eye injuries are claimed. Currently, the risk arising from ocular exposure in laser shows is assessed theoretically before the event is approved, but there is no real-time monitoring of audience or occupational exposure during the show. This paper presents the development of a prototype field measurement instrument to aid in assessing the safety of laser shows. It describes in detail the hardware, user interface and software design considerations, gives system characteristics and illustrates its performance on examples of laser show effects.