Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/11/16/laser-projected-christmas-ligh-2.html
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Yeah, but they don’t look as good. They look like a glitter bomb on your house. If that is what you are going for, then ok.
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But, can you point them towards the sky?
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why wouldn’t you just buy a real projector and then program a video to loop that looked a lot nicer?
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As far as Xmas lights, I still prefer the aluminum tree/spinning color wheel combo. As a child, I would fixate on the reflected colors and try to catch the ‘mid-color’ transitions between the wheel colors.
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Obligatory:
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Are these powerful enough to cause problems for helicopter pilots and such? Is that issue even addressed by the product manufacturer and communicated to the customer?
It just seems like aiming lasers upwards is a bad idea, even if most of the light is blocked by whatever you’re illuminating I don’t see how you can guarantee nothing gets past.
But I’m speaking from ignorance since I have no idea how powerful a laser needs to be to interfere with air traffic and I have no idea how powerful the laser in this product is. Which is why I hope the manufacturer has addressed that concern in some way.
Edit: it seems the lasers are pretty low power and harmless to look at so I guess I’m making much ado about nothing.
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According to the Google (just google it; lots of articles) it is a matter of some concern. Pilots have reported laser “hits” (my word, not theirs) that came from laser holiday house displays.
edited to add: which doesn’t really answer your question. So I hope somebody else chimes in.
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They’re also about 10 times the price of a cheap string of traditional lights. So no thank you. Besides, what good is Christmas without the everpresent fear that a short will start a fire that burns the house down while everyone sleeps?
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just no. please don’t be part of the problem.
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But. . . where’s the love?
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Sure - but you only have to put the XMAS lights up once.
Set them & forget them.
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One of the primary reasons a 40-foot-high lighted tree is a glorious thing is precisely because of the dedication and effort and artistry required.
(I would think a “Maker” would understand this.)
But… “I plug in a projector, and it randomly sprinkles everything in sight with a sort of dim, vaguely Christmas-colored dandruff (and who knows, maybe it even ROTATES!!!1!), and, presto! I’m all done!”
Really?
How sad.
Now, say five “Hail Santas” and go drive three laps of Christmas Tree Lane, and be absolved. (-:
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The beam is diffracted enough that it probably doesn’t matter, but no, it is not adequately explained or communicated.
Also, the ones i bought last year lasted on a few weeks outside before failing. Maybe they were duds, maybe there are better brands and models now, but I returned mine.
I did see them used exceptionally well at the Tower Hill Botanic Garden, it was really mesmerizing outdoors on all the trees.
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One feature of these pricey projectors that’s being reported on more frequently is how easily they can vanish in the early morning hours. There are vids of them being carted off, and more vids about how to secure them on youtube.
There’s still plenty of innovation remaining for these gadgets. They won’t approach end stage until they display Christmas movies and photorealistic animations on your outside walls brightly enough to divert highway traffic through the neighborhood.
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One of these years I want to laser-etch the snow on the front lawn with Christmas card graphics. (Note to self: schedule print jobs for the middle of the night with no passing traffic to blind.)
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Not terribly hygge, I’m afraid.
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HI! I’ve seen them from the air. Both from an airliner window and my own Cessna.
Truthfully I did not think these were dangerous. The only distraction was a lot of time debating “What was that?” and “Wait, there it is again!” then finally figuring out the flashes are these laser Christmas lights.
Cell phone video from an airliner flight did not do it justice.
Are you in MN? I’d be happy to take you or anyone flying at night to try and film this effect.
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Because nothing says, “replicants live here” like thousands of dancing laser dots!
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