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Shaving can be the absolute worst, especially for people with sensitive skin. Razors can leave behind razor burn, ingrown hairs and cuts, and when you've worn down a razor so that it's no longer usable, it joins the others in landfills to the tune of 2 billion razors per year in the US (PDF).
The makers of a new product called the Skarp Laser Razor want to give you an incredibly close, irritation-free shave using lasers. The prototype is an aluminum razor-shaped gizmo that they say uses a laser to cut (not burn) the hair at skin level for a close shave, and works for all hair colors.
Because the laser is supposed to last about 50,000 hours and be usable without water, it would be good for the environment as well.
http://www.cnet.com/news/forget-blades-the-skarp-laser-razor-wants-you-to-shave-with-lasers/
[Kickstarter Campaign]: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skarp/the-skarp-laser-razor-21st-century-shaving
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Wednesday September 30 2015, @04:16AM
The production version had better work unlike it does in this video:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skarp/the-skarp-laser-razor-21st-century-shaving/posts/1364296 [kickstarter.com]
Whatever they have in the lab currently is terrible.
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(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 30 2015, @04:57AM
Sounds like they intend to file for some patents on this. Do all of the crowdfunders get royalties if this takes off?
Pseudo Edit: According to the FAQ [kickstarter.com], it Is patented. Since the purpose of Patents is to disclose the invention, I fail to see what all the secrecy is about.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Wednesday September 30 2015, @11:08PM
I was curious about that as well. I wonder if they mean that they've submitted an application that's in process. Because if it's already been patented, then there's no point in keeping the numbers a secret as the competition would know about it.
If it's in process, that I can understand because somebody could come in with a more specific patent that would block them.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday September 30 2015, @05:05AM
It sure looks like skin was being burned in certain parts of that video -- you could see the skin light up if the shaver was pressed too close. Secondly, what a wonderful way to wake up -- smell of coffee, toast, and burnt hair.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 30 2015, @02:38PM
or burnt flesh.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday September 30 2015, @04:05PM
My memory of lasers and burnt smell comes from my Lasik. TMYK*
Needless to say, no more lasers near my face.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday September 30 2015, @02:39PM
Secondly, what a wonderful way to wake up -- smell of coffee, toast, and burnt hair.
This is the part that confuses me about the product. OK so lasers can set stuff on fire at a distance, and hair burns... why not skip all the star trek stuff and just use a cigarette lighter, or a torch?
(Score: 3, Informative) by etherscythe on Wednesday September 30 2015, @06:18PM
Ever cut anything with a laser? I have. Cool thing about it (haha, yes, I know), you don't get much collateral damage to the surrounding area as long as your aperture and lenses are clean. If you could somehow get a torch to hit only in a straight line, and not have heat radiating into, say, your skin - that would be great too. However, flames typically don't work that way. Photons can.
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(Score: 1) by Gobo on Wednesday September 30 2015, @08:09AM
I was thinking the same thing. That looks like a terrible shave, even disregarding the slowness. It takes a long time to cut a single hair, it's uneven, and I have trouble seeing how you are going to use that to cut close to the skin.
I also noted that they never show the end of the handle of the prototype. There is no way of knowing whether this is battery powered, or has a chord attached to it still.