Ask HN: Glasses that act like a flashbang?

3 pointsby sillysaurus3vor 12 Jahren2 comments

I had an idea and was wondering if it was workable from an engineering standpoint. (It's a stupid idea, but that's beside the point. It's for fun, and it's funny to think about.)

The idea is simple: if you're in a situation where you're being threatened... well, you do what your assailants tell you to do, give them whatever they want from you, then call the police afterwards and try to retrieve your stolen property.

(I'm saying this to be clear that the idea isn't serious.)

Okay, so, the idea is simple: It's a self-defense tool in order to escape a situation where you're being threatened. At night, a sudden flash of bright light is usually enough to disable an attacker for a couple seconds, which is desirable for obvious reasons. That's the whole goal: an extremely bright flash pointed at your attacker's eyes. Like a flashbang, minus the bang.

So I was wondering, what's the brightest flash that can be emitted from the smallest and lightest electronics?

In terms of implementation / form factor, there are a few ways this idea might make (a small amount of) sense. People sometimes wear headbands while jogging, so the "flasher" could be embedded into that. Kind of like this, except instead of an MP3 player, it's something that emits a big flash: http://i.imgur.com/afoiHxW.png

A solution that's more likely to be there when you need it is to mount it on top of the lenses of your eyeglasses. I was thinking that if the electronics are small enough, then it may be possible to make it look like a nondescript strip above the rims of your lenses. It could be activated by a button on the glasses behind your ear. (If your hands are up, your ear is pretty close to your hands.)

Can modern electronics emit a flash on par with something like a high-end DSLR camera while being small and light enough to wear on your face?

3 comments

[deleted]vor 12 Jahren

gcb0vor 12 Jahren

a small charge of magnesium? would still make a little bang.

how about reading some patents of flash bangs? that what patents are for.

also, a glass? the idea that the assailant will be making eye contact is nice, but your eyes will also be there

wesleyacvor 12 Jahren

Wearing bright lights next to your face with the intent of quickly flashing them in the darkness seems like a Bad Idea.

Just sayin'