To date I can't think of any existing lasers which you are intended to look at during daily use. Most consumer facing lasers are either class 1 but hidden (CD-ROM), or class 2 but basically not shined into your eye (barcode reader).

There was another discussion a week back https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46126780

The lack of accessible certification/testing docs for the lidars is also worrying. Where is the proof that it was even tested? Was it tested just via simulation, via a dummy eye stand-in, or with a real biological substitute?

What if there are biological concerns other than simply peak power involved with shining NIR into the eye? (For instance, it seems deep red light has some (beneficial) biological effects on mitochondria. How do we know that a pulsed NIR laser won't have similar but negative effects, even if it doesn't burn a hole in your retina.)

>I can't think of any existing lasers which you are intended to look at during daily use

Iphone face unlock users lidar to scan your face when you look at it.

> class 2 but basically not shined into your eye (barcode reader)

TIL barcode readers can cause serious eye damage when misused. You'd think they'd have warning labels on these things given how common self-checkout is nowadays and how curious/stupid children can be

They're not always class 2, some are class 1. I'd maybe suspect the self-checkout ones are class 1 since the object is pressed right against it, while handheld barcode scanners are class 2.

If it's like everything else, it's "move fast, break things". I'm sure if it turns out to be harmful, we'll find out decades before regulation catches up