General Question

pallen123's avatar

What type of lighting will produce the most visible beam in daylight?

Asked by pallen123 (1519points) February 11th, 2012

I am trying to create a certain special effect for an art project in which a cylinder of light appears in a well lit room and people can “step inside” this cylinder of light. I was going to use several green laser pointers arranged in a circle, pointing down from the cieling but laser beams aren’t visible unless there is smoke or dust or other particulate in the air and that isn’t feasible for this room. Is there any type of lighting that will produce a visible beam effect in a normally lit room? Maybe high intensity LED lights? Will lasers that are more powerful than pointer lasers be visible without introducing particulate into the air? Special lenses? I can ask participants to wear special glasses with filters if there is a type of light whose beam will be seen in a well lit room when someone is the filters.

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10 Answers

auhsojsa's avatar

Have harder light than the surrounding light like a stage play would do to someone doing a monologue?

thorninmud's avatar

There is no form of light that will be visible unless it hits something in the air.

pallen123's avatar

@thorninmud I understand that but there is always some particulate in the air, even in a clean room. My question pertains to what type of lighting should I choose to best achieve this effect.

pallen123's avatar

@auhsojsa what is “hard” light?

JaneraSolomon's avatar

The well-lit room presents a problem since any light “disappears” in a well lit room. I suggest you try an entirely different approach and consider something like suspended dowels that are painted with fluorescent green paint. They will seem to “glow” in a well lit room.

pallen123's avatar

@JaneraSolomon Thanks for the creative solution but objects must be able to be passed through the beam.

whitenoise's avatar

any strong light source, combined with introduced extra particles, such as a smoke generator based on co2, or a fine mist of water. Make sure to use clean water and a very fine mist.

Also, try if you can dim the room.

For a tunnel…. use laser and a motorized mirror with controls.

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