This LiDAR-guided mosquito air defense system may seem like overkill, but with how annoying those little bloodsuckers can be during the summer, you won't catch me complaining.
That's the pitch behind the “World's First Portable Mosquito Air Defense,” dubbed the Photonmatrix, a crowdfunded gadget from Changzhou, China. It uses a LiDAR scanner to track any mosquito buzzing in a 6m (19.7 ft) radius and zaps them with a galvanometer-directed laser before they can bite. The Photonmatrix can be powered by a smartphone power bank for up to 16 hours and even works in the dark.
According to its IndieGogo campaign page, the Photonmatrix can seek and destroy up to 30 mosquitoes per second. The campaign's picked up steam in recent weeks (as more people start taking advantage of the warmer weather), raising over $400,000 in crowdfunding on an initial $19,874 goal.
A video demonstration of the Photonmatrix has gone viral on TikTok as well. You can check it out below. It's satisfying to watch mosquitoes disappear in a puff of smoke as the Photonmatrix seeks and destroys. Like schadenfreude for anyone who's scratched themselves bloody from mosquito bites before.
@photon.matrix Mosquito Air Defense/part 2
♬ 原创音乐 - Photon Matrix
The pint-size kill dome relies on LiDAR, the same laser ranging technology that guides self-driving car, to scan the air with one laser to detect mosquitoes. Once spotted, a second laser, steered by a galvanometer mirror, shoots them out of the air like a heat-seeking bug zapper. Creator Jim Wong compares it to a sort of air defense battery for mosquitoes.
Wong's mosquito-neutralizing gadget comes in two editions: the Basic model with a smaller active radius of 3m (9.8ft) max and the Pro edition with a 6m (19.7 ft) kill zone. But a skeeter defense matrix comes with a pretty hefty price tag. The basic Photonmatrix will set you back $498, while the Photonmatrix Pro is $698. That being said, there are still available rewards for Basic-Earlybird backers, which can save you $40 off the Basic price. Once the crowdfunding campaign is over, the price of the Basic and Pro products will rise to $698 and $898, respectively, according to the campaign's page.
All told, the Photon Matrix looks like an ideal solution for tropical nights or camping trips. With the six-meter range on the Pro model, that's enough to keep a patio or the inside of a tent mosquito-free. If the technology performs as advertised, it could be a stress-free alternative to nets in sprays in areas where mosquitoes transmit serious illnesses like malaria.
That's all on paper, however. Turning a prototype into a reliable, widely available product is rarely straightforward. Even assuming the Photon Matrix works, important questions still remain, like whether its lasers could unintentionally hurt other insects or hold up to real-world conditions. As with any crowdfunded gadget, especially one promising something that seems almost too good to be true, a healthy dose of skepticism is wise. Still, it does sound impressive.
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