At the end of the 19th century, [King Camp Gillette] had the idea of creating a disposable razor blade that didn’t need sharpening. There was one problem with this idea: metallurgy was not yet advanced enough to produce paper-thin carbon steel blades and sharpen them for a close shave. In 1901, [William Nickerson] solved this problem, and the age of disposable razors began.
This Kickstarter would have you believe there is a new era of beard technology dawning. It’s a laser razor called Skarp, and it’s on track to become one of the most funded Kickstarters of all time. The only problem? Even with relatively good documentation on the Kickstarter campaign, a demo video, a patent, and an expert in the field of cosmetic lasers, only the creators can figure out how it works.
Instead of using technology that has been tried and tested for thousands of years, the Skarp uses a laser to shave hairs off, right at the surface of the skin. You need only look at a billboard for laser hair removal to realize this is possible, but building a laser razor is something that has eluded us for decades. This patent from 1986 at the very least demonstrates the beginnings of the idea – put a laser beam in a handheld package and plunge it into a beard. This patent from 2005 uses fiber optics to send a laser beam to a handheld razor. Like anything out of the sci-fi genre, a laser razor is a well-tread idea in the world of invention.
But Skarp thinks it has solved all of the problems which previously block lasers from finding a place in your medicine cabinet.
All of the early laser-based systems have a problem, at least according [Morgan Gustavsson], creator of the Skarp and inventor of intense pulsed light, a technique used to remove hair and treat skin disorders. None of the previous laser razors can cut all types of hair. Blonde, gray, red, and blond hair are all problems for laser-based razors, until “special chromophores” were identified in human hair that would respond to specific frequencies of laser light.
With Skarp, this laser light is delivered through an optical fiber running the length of a blade. When a hair comes in contact with this optical fiber, a small amount of light leaks through the fiber, burning the hair off. The Skarp team has even posted a demo video of the process, showing a razor-shaped object can, indeed, cut hair many magnitudes slower than a metal blade.
And so we come to the multi-million dollar question: is the Skarp real? This is usually the part where informed speculation kicks in, but for once I’m at a loss.
Still, using an unshielded optical fiber to cut hair doesn’t pass the sniff test. Using a AAA battery to drive a diode laser for a month doesn’t pass the sniff test. The sheer engineering that goes into designing optics, possibly manufacturing new laser diodes, and packaging all of this into an unbelievably small enclosure doesn’t pass the sniff test. I therefore turn this over to the most erudite and sometimes suspiciously cynical population on the Internet, the Hackaday comments section. What say you? Does anyone know how much laser power and at what frequency is required to shave a beard? Why on earth would an established inventor – a leader in his field – go to Kickstarter? How on Earth is this project on target to rake in four million dollars? There’s just enough details here to make an argument one way or another. You may do so below.
So, in the end – isn’t this group smart enough to come up with a multi-frequency laser cluster through a splitter that goes through a single strand of fiber optic – and then back it up with a pulsed beam up in the 10+ watt area – that won’t hurt you, and doesn’t do Lasik eye surgery unintentionally? Oh, and runs on a AA battery for a month. Piece of cake.
There is a long EEVBlog forums thread about this device:
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/shaving-with-laser/
Really interesting dif-eq and integral equations on white boards; I have no idea what they were there for and if they mean if anything at all. And a scope showing multiple traces of what? Lots of equipment lying around. Has anyone contacted UC Irvine to check Dr Zachary’s connection with the device? Is his name used with permission? What is his role in the company?
Everyone should report this. Don’t let these guys get away with it.
I say let’s give them the benefit of the doubt – have an independent party use their razor in a real life situation to shave. Let’s see them actually back up their claims. Otherwise kickstarter should close it.
They should have some sort of accountability situation where if it raises more then $100k then these are the types of proofs that you must offer. If it makes more than $1m then these are the things you must prove to get the money, etc.
I thumbed through the comments and I didn’t see any notice of this…
The laser appears to be “red”, to me this raises a concern because it is of a fairly long wavelength and therefore not suitable for cutting at low power levels. For example a co2 laser operates at 10600nm, which will cut absorbent materials at 100w or so becuase most matrials absorb IR (near IR)….an off the shelf 645nm, 300mW red laser diode could barely put an eye out (coherent light sources aren’t toys and should never be pointed at he eyes).
I just can’t see a laser diode over 500mw, possibly 1w, even touching anything but black/dark brown hairs…let alone fitting into what is basically a Bic razor handle. What about the possibility of reflections from the hairs being “cut”…seems like that could be a hazard.
All in all I think it’s well marketed schmuck bait for the uniformed and should be pulled until there is better of concept and explanation of the operating principles.
I think this is safer than what I currently use (sharks with laser beams attached to their heads)
I think this would be a good time for investors to start identifying all involved and locate their addresses for further “correspondence”..
“Only two things are infinite,
the universe and human stupidity,
and I’m not sure about the former.”
– Albert Einstein –
I asked them a bunch of specific questions related to the obvious power issues (AAA battery lasts one month?) and FDA approval.
Their reply was essentially “we’re not discussing technical details” and “if we need FDA approval, we’ll get it”
Now, this is a laser device, for sure they need FDA approval before they can sell it in the US. No ifs, ands or buts. And that approval is not an easy thing to get. I know, because I had to help draft the submission for the device I worked on. So, on their answer to that question alone, they are at best naive and at worst, ignorant (or fraudulent).
On the power issue, they’re not revealing any of their tech by telling me how much energy is used during a typical shave and justifying the use of an AAA cell, so what’s the big deal? Unless they’re running a scam, of course, then you don’t have any technical backup for your claims, and you’d want to avoid having to discuss that sort of thing.
It makes me feel bad an insecure to claim it, but their behavior is identical to the graphene super-cap guy, identical to the location tag people, identical to that 3d printer… These specific kickstarters are outright scams in my estimation. The people involved may have fooled themselves into believing they were trying to deliver their claims, but they were still behaving in such a way as to maximize potential take-home without risking cash to achieve potential success. They didn’t risk the cash they raised in a desperate attempt to fulfill their promises.
Unsophisticated observers will believe the excuses and subterfuge, but people who have gone through the process of taking a complex product through patenting and then to market will be unimpressed. We know the following:
1) a proof of concept cannot always be made into a viable product
2) if they plan on adding patents with new IP they develop in the next several months of rushing to try and deliver, they have a 3 to 10 week period at the shortest before they can get new patent pending status – but likely longer…..
3) kickstarter itself is ambivalent about these things, they side with the scam artists EVERY time
4) the new first to file rules DO leave inventors at risk of people snaking their ideas, but if the creators have additional IP to file, they need to admit this, it isn’t excusable to drag the public into it in this way – it is unethical and immoral to lie in order to get money from individuals – it is called theft or fraud or both
5) from delivery of drawings to a working prototype can take 3rd party manufacturers anywhere from 1 to 20 weeks or more to deliver a prototype, let alone production parts. without substantial prearranging and communication, the larger number of weeks is very likely
Now, if I was a sketchy thief who believes their own BS does not stink, I could dream up a incredibly successful kickstarter that I have absolutely no hope of fulfilling. I could use a low-cost patent service to get a provisional patent and use that to confuse naive people. I could create a phony paper trail showing I attempted to fulfill the goals and simply couldn’t. I personally will never do something like this. But others are perfectly willing to do this.
For the record I do believe their laser hair removal scheme works to some extent – i do think their demo videos are of their new tech successfully if clumsily cutting dark hairs. The industrial design portion appears very early stage. ID can be done quickly if the mechanics and other details are solidified, but will get stuck in cyclical development hell if they have to keep changing things.
Having consulted for many startups, I always get irritated or back out when the founders begin trying to use my materials to scam people. It is a total pet peeve. I would be very surprised if they deliver ever. They have months of patenting they appear determined to undertake before even showing a viable product.
Eh. It’s probably the usual startup kickstarter founder thing. They genuinely wanted it to work and thought that it would, but even with $4 million, they’re realizing (maybe not realizing, but generating data tat shows) that the base technology is unfeasible. And as usual, small backers who pledge $100 or whatever don’t understand that 80-90% of the stuff the fund is supposed to fail, statistically, even though an institutional backer expects millions to disappear all the time, so of course everyone’s complaining…
Anywho, they’re just not very experienced, like many people who start kickstarters. My gut feeling for why it wouldn’t work? Using lightguide and evanescent coupling (i.e. FTIR, light escapes where you change the index of refraction because you placed the fiber against an object and not air, etc etc) hypothetically could work. Sounds like a cool concept, in fact. But there’s no way you could fit a laser with enough overehead (thermal, etc.) into a standard razor. A much bigger one than they show? Yes, maybe. In practice, the other big problem is that you’re basically going to be manhandling a delicate high quality glass fiber on a daily basis. If it doesn’t break, requiring another precisely manufactured glass fiber assembly (you need good alignment at these power levels), every time you shave and melt a hair onto the fiber rather than cutting it, laser power is going to be continually dumped into the contaminated, dirty part of the fiber instead of any new incoming hairs. Either it’s going to require constant cleaning or some other trick up their sleeves. They’re probably going to need to spend that $4 million on a year or two of R&D to make it usable…unfortunately, chances are, the backers will end up pressuring them to do otherwise, and they’ll end up manufacturing duds and delivering nothing because they have no manufacturing experience. And even if they did it right, everyone except for the most dedicated backers who won’t admit they funded a dud (or if they’re really insightful, potentially premature) technology will just switch back to their traditional, much faster, reliable razors…
Morgan, one of the founders has many many related patents.This seems like a good sign for potential success – however, it raises it’s own questions. Why is an experienced developer willing to take $ from individuals for what he simply must known is technology that appears to need a ton of work – months or years of R&D appear to remain.
They keep saying they need better fibers – I agree – they need them to continue R&D, not to go to manufacturing.
Even an accomplished inventor such as Morgan might get greedy, desperate, sick of working, etc. Perhaps all of his patents are assigned to his previous employers and this is his shot at getting his own payout after decades of being a corporate slave.. I dont know..
I do know his kickstarter approach is achingly similar to the graphene super-cap guy, which was one of the worst kickstarter scams i’ve ever seen!
I am in the skeptical side. As a sensitive skin, I am waiting for such a product, but I think it is too soon.
The power source is way too weak and they do not talk about. They should take inspiration from electrical toothbrush contact less charger.
One of my question, is what about when the laser touch the skin? The human face is not that flat, and when you arrive to an edge…
I posted a question (the button at the bottom of the FAQ) asking if they could post a video in natural light and was given the highly blunt answer of “No.”
We all know laser hair removal is real, but I am deeply dubious of this particular project
…None of them are clean-shaven because they’re all waiting for the first guy to finish up with the only prototype…
At 8 seconds, you can see a much longer wire coming into the device …
Did people really pledge more than 3 freaking million? I hope it’s the money they will soon get from that nigerian prince and not their own.
chop
100% scam , but quite a good one , take the 3+ mil and then spend the next 40 years “developing” the system in your purpose built facility, The one with the swimming pool and luxury accomodation (98%) and high tech laboratory (2%), apologising to your backers for the “unforseen” problems . The couple of hundred bucks is the sort of level where it is not worth chasing through the courts , especially when you’d have to admit that you’d be suckered in the first place
I actually will call scam^2.
It is a fake scan set up by kickstarter themselves. Most of the $3.5M (and growing) pledge is just some code they have added to the back end database to add a fake pledge every n minutes.
It gets publicity for kickstarter with the wild amounts of money being offered AND obvious quakery.
Then in the 9th hour when kickstarter cancel it they get more publicity and are heros.
Ok so I just did a test where I put a good amount of current through the finest piece of wire I had laying around. I was able to get the right amount so it didn’t instantly burn and break, did not glow red, could burn hair instantly and while it would burn the skin it was mild enough that I could keep myself from reacting to it and keep going. The only question left… can i get 4 million dollars? Or do i have to develop a fancy case and attach LEDs first??
The project has now been pulled by Kickstarter for lack of prototype. They went straight to Indiegogo, and already raised $43.000 in 4 hours.
This screams scam to me.
Annnnd they have been punted off Kickstarter, already found a new home on IGG.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/13/9518163/laser-razor-kickstarter-banned-indiegogo
Interesting that the Verge mentions they received an official response from the head of their company, a Mr. Oliver Pearce-Owen. Why is it that when I google his name it’s the name of a famous actor? Personally I would not trust an actor to produce a laser product, considering the word laser stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Everything about this seems like a scam, right up to the “experts” behind it.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34516907
Removed from Kickstarter.
their patent actually says that their product releases radiation, read it yourself if you don’t believe me. they explain in the patent that they would need to install a sensor that would shut off the device if the radiation gets too high. doesn’t sound fucking safe to me. Oh yea, and their patent also explains how with enough fine tuning the laser can cut through skin for surgical purposes. i wonder why they would write that in their patent? Anyway, i’ve been watching this unfold since last week, i was so thankful that people who were skeptical actually wrote about it, like this article, so thank you for that. i’ve been annoyed to no end that major companies basically just copied their unfounded claims and published it everywhere. What they have done is false advertising on a major scale. I really hope the power of reason overcomes this b/s, so i went ahead and tried to alert the youtube channel OwnagePranks about this scam, since OP specializes in exposing scams.
And by the way, as far as whether this guy invented Intense Pulsed Light, from my research i was able to find that the technology and the idea of how IPL would work actually started in the 1930’s so there is no way this guy started the idea in the 1990’s. That piece of information alone makes him suspicious.