NATO STO

The outcome of SET198 research activities ("Visible Laser Dazzle – Effects and Protection") provides a firm basis in understanding the impact of laser dazzle on the visual performance of humans. That was achieved through computer eye modeling on one hand and their experimental validation by means of image exploitation of dazzled camera images and dazzle campaigns with human test candidates on the other hand. Moreover the impact of laser dazzling of humans on the accomplishment of tasks was studied in different scenarios to learn more about effective dazzling distances, regarding the potential of a specific laser source as well as the dazzled individual. Today, the number of dazzle events and laser attacks carried out with commercially available, compact and powerful laser sources such as “laser pointers” is steadily increasing. Thus, in order to achieve a deeper understanding of the impact of glare on task related experiments (i.e. visual impairment) caused by laser eye-dazzle, the dazzling pattern on the retina shall be evaluated by computer simulations and the perception by task performance studies. Since it is often difficult to perform tests on humans and to learn solely from such tests it is of great advantage to set up and to study dazzling by means of an eyelike camera working as a kind of an artificial eye. The sole availability of protection measures will not be enough to counter that threat. In order to feel safe or act safely in hazardous areas, an interaction of protection measures, rules of engagement and background knowledge is essential.