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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 01 2015, @07:38PM
In their 4th update [kickstarter.com] they claim they have a magic wavelength that presumably destroys hair, but not skin.
Either they are being confused by the use of the "Intellectual Property" term [gnu.org], or they are lying. Their inability to demonstrate the cutter safely touching skin, coupled with "stretch goals" exceeding 20X the initial funding request makes me think they are lying.
What I don't get though is: what is their end-game if it is a con?
If it is a trade secret, how many minutes do they think it will take a competitor to hook it up to a spectrometer?
Maybe the real point of the stretch goals is to fund lawsuits to sue upstart competitors.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 01 2015, @08:24PM
Thought of another possibility:
The laser is not skin-safe. However, the USPO has so far refused to issue a new patent for a Safety razor [wikipedia.org]... but with "lasers"!