Laser lighting display

Laser light is useful in entertainment because the coherent nature of laser light allows a narrow beam to be produced, which allows the use of optical scanning to draw patterns or images on walls, ceilings or other surfaces including theatrical smoke and fog without refocusing for the differences in distance, as is common with video projection.

A planar or conical moving beam aimed through atmospheric smoke or fog can display a plane or cone of light known as a "laser tunnel" effect.

Some high-power lasers used in entertainment applications can also cause burns or skin damage if enough energy is directed onto the human body and at a close enough range.

Safety precautions used by laser lighting professionals include beamstops and procedures so that the beam is projected above the heads of the audience.

In such a case, the show is supposed to be designed and analyzed to keep the beam moving, so that no harmful amount of laser energy is ever received by any individual audience member.

Lasers used outdoors can pose a risk of "flash blindness" to pilots of aircraft[6] if too-bright light enters the cockpit.

[7] One of the pioneers in the use of lasers in multimedia productions was the Polish-Australian artist Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski, whose explorations of their artistic possibilities at Stanford University, California, and later at the Weapons Research Establishment at Salisbury, South Australia led to his innovative 'Sound and Image' show at the 1968 Adelaide Festival of Arts.

The Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, and Electric Light Orchestra were among the first high-profile rock acts to use lasers in their concert shows in the mid-1970s.