It looks like the bug-zapper of the future has arrived. Chinese startup Photon Matrix has started marketing a $1,000 “laser mosquito air defense system” that tracks mosquitoes in mid-flight, then blasts them with a short laser burst, reports the New York Times. It’s actually an American invention, notes Ross Anderson at Atlantic. A former Microsoft executive came up with the idea 20 years ago after Bill Gates asked him to study tools that could help fight malaria, he writes. But it’s only now coming to fruition. Photon Matrix insists it’s safe, with AI-based technology that decides when it’s OK to shoot and safety tools that recognize humans and pets, as well as insects such as butterflies that don’t need to be zapped. (See a corporate video.)
Still, its laser could cause harm to human eyes, and buyers must take a safety quiz and register a fingerprint to activate it. Keith Bradsher of Times notes that the laser does not seem to kill insects quickly:
- “For anyone who has ever wished a gruesome death on mosquitoes, this is a surprisingly high-tech way to make that wish come true. The laser delivers a gruesome end, but not a quick one. Mosquitoes whose wings have burned off can take hours or even days to die, lying on the ground and twitching slightly…”
Gn world
