L.A.S.E.R Tag: Combining Quantum Phyisics with the art of today’s youth

L.A.S.E.R Tag System from Graffiti Research Lab in action

Laser = Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

Thats a tough one to say, and the concept without any basic knowledge can  be mind boggling. Well, Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation goes on everyday in those little laser pointers that one can buy at a dollar store for $5.To the average person, a laser pointer can be thought of as no more than a tool used to aid in one’s presentation of a topic, or a tool of fun at the expense of others (normally reserved for an unsuspecting teacher or peer.) Going even simpler than that, what is your first thought when you hear the word ‘laser’? Laser pointers? Science Fiction space battles? In fact, these two associated words are what account for a fairly small percent of laser usage in todays world. Today, lasers can be mostly found to be used in industrial, military, or scientific applications.

To understand the laser, you first have to understand the very basic technologies that went into the first laser device. It consisted of a synthetic ruby rod (1), a flash lamp (2), a high reflective mirror (3), and a medium reflective mirror (4). When a high current at a high voltage passes through the flash lamp (which are used as the flash in your camera), a large amount of light, or photons, are released from the flash lamp. When these photons come in contact with the ruby rod, they oscillate, or vibrate. These vibrating photons bounce back and forth across both mirrors, increasing the frequency of the vibrations. When the photons bounce off the medium reflective mirror, some of the photons are reflected, and some travel through the mirror as…

LASER LIGHT!

The Ruby Laser Diagram

Phew, the Quantum Physics part of this is over :]

These first lasers were known as “pulse” lasers, as they only produced laser light for 1 microsecond (1 millionth of a second). This laser light, however, could exceede 10,000 Watts (compare this to the >less then 1 milliwat laser pointers that can be bought at gas stations and corner stores!)

I could go much more in-depth into lasers, but I’d rather explain exactly what that guy in the first picture is doing.

The guys at Graffiti Research Lab have found a way to tag where you want, and as big as you want, without having to worry about finger prints (do graffiti artists even care about finger prints? lol.)

It’s called the L.A.S.E.R Tag. It works by tracking a high powered green laser with a webcam, and relaying the laser’s position through a computer software and projects a spray paint-like texture in the position matching the laser.

The city is your media. The only trouble you’ll have is which skyscraper to tag next.

Extra information sources:

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser
-http://www.howstuffworks.com/laser.htm

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