Taming Cyclops: Mixed Reality Head-Mounted Displays as Laser Safety Goggles for Advanced Optics Laboratories

In this poster paper, we present a mixed reality application for laser eye protection based on a video see-through head-mounted display. With our setup, laser lab users perceive the real environment through the head-mounted display, using it as a substitute for laser safety goggles required by health and safety regulations. We designed and evaluated our prototype with a human-centered computing approach at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron where there exists some of the most advanced and extreme optics laboratory working conditions. We demonstrated that virtual reality headsets can be an attractive future alternative to conventional laser safety goggles.