Gadgetory

the scarp laser razors seemed too good to be true it was billed as the first laser powered razor to give you a close shave without irritating your skin the project raised four million dollars on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter but after the internet exploded with cries of scam scarp never got a cent it was just taken down gone and then we got an email saying that we're taking it down because our prototype didn't meet the criteria that they have for the prototype Kickstarter said the project was in violation of our rule requiring working prototypes of physical products that are offered as rewards it had become a trench war between some people who really liked it and some people who were determined that it is this is a scam scarp tried to prove it had a prototype in this video but critics weren't convinced and nobody outside of the company could vouch for it so I went to see for myself but if the laser razor was real can't cut through this many at once right now not with this fiber but I see them burning individually err and they're at scarps lab in southern california the cofounders showed me how the laser cuts hair without burning your skin it's an effect called frustrated total internal reflection where the laser beam travels along the length of the fiber and only escapes when it hits a hair any point along that wall you touch light won't leak out and then as soon as you take away the hair light goes back forward the co-founders say they also found a wavelength to cut all hair colors normally lasers can only cut dark hair but to keep their findings secret they ask that we use a camera filter to disguise the color of their laser see a few of these falling away as I brush across the surface and I can smell a little bit of smoke coming up my nostrils - it's burning through them as you can see the prototype cuts one hair at a time not terribly effective if you want to shave off a beard in the next version the company aims to have the razor shave five to ten hairs at once and right now you can't run the razor along your skin to get a close shave on the prototype the fiber then acts as the blade is fragile it's attached by hand that's right and as it hangs here between those two points but it's very likely mounted then it's enough you hit a little bump in the skin you break it because it's very very very brittle whoops and broke the fiber that's why the company says it needs the funding to get the right fiber and mount it properly which requires machinery we know how to mount it in a rigid support so it doesn't break we spoke to an optical fiber manufacturing expert who told us that sounded feasible the company did manage to raise $400,000 on another crowdfunding site IndieGoGo so what does Gustafson have to say to Kickstarter now I would tell them thank thanks for all the publicity and there is always it tomorrow when will we know for sure if the laser razor can really shave scarp says it'll ship to backers in March 2016 skeptics might say that's cutting it close in Irvine California Sean Hollister Christine