There’s a number of solutions out there for keeping mosquitos at bay when trying to enjoy the outdoors, from patches and blankets to devices that create an invisible dome which repels the blood-sucking insects. No matter how good those devices are, we bet none of them are as satisfying as the Photon Matrix Blue Laser Mosquito Air Defense.
That’s right, they’re not calling it a “mosquito repellent system” like everything other competing product does. That’s because it doesn’t repel the darn things. Instead, it’s a literal air defense system that uses lasers to shoot down mosquitos right out of the immediate airspace. It’s veritable insect warfare.
The Photon Matrix Blue Laser Mosquito Air Defense is a tabletop device that can detect mosquitoes in the vicinity and shoot them out of the air using a highly visible blue laser. The highly visible part is important, since the outfit’s old version of this thing used invisible infrared to take mosquitoes out, which isn’t quite as fun as seeing a small beam of laser actually shoot them down like a miniature military weapon. It uses a Class 4 laser, too, which makes it quite a serious weapon of warfare, so you have be careful when working around it because Class 4 lasers can inflict actual damage to eyes and skin.
The lasers are mounted at the front of the device, with a rotating base that allows it to spin 360 degrees on its own to put any mosquitoes within the laser’s line of sight. You can put in on the base the regular way with the lasers facing out front, although you can also have it face up if you want it to take out mosquitoes flying directly above. Aside from the rotating base, it also comes with a standard desktop base and a fixed bracket for alternate mounting options, although neither of those provide the autonomous rotation.
The Photon Matrix Blue Laser Mosquito Air Defense uses a LiDAR scanner and a millimeter-wave radar to spot flying insects within a 20-foot range, while quickly calculating their distance, speed, angle, and motion trajectory. According to the outfit, it can detect any insect as small 2mm and as large as 20mm flying at speeds of up to 3.3 feet per second. An internal galvanometer system handles the laser positioning to ensure it hits the target correctly. Do note, the laser will only be visible for a fraction of a second so it’s not quite going to put on an extended light show, although it could be fun to watch if you suddenly see an army of mosquitoes show up all at once.
The device, by the way, can keep track of all the mosquitoes it kills, which it shows on a small LED strip right on the device. There’s also a companion app that logs the same data while offering a mosquito heat map and data analysis. You can also set the scanning range, scanning angle, and operation schedule from the app. There’s no internal battery, by the way, so you need to plug into a power source, with the outfit including a wall outlet adapter, a USB-C to DC cable, and a DC extension cable. According to the outfit, a 20,000 mAh power bank can keep it running for only four to five hours, so that laser eats up a lot of juice.
The Photon Matrix Blue Laser Mosquito Air Defense is available now, although there’s a 120-day wait for deliveries. Price is $1,088.