Snipers cannot hide from laser sensor.

• Author: Jean, Grace
• Position: TECHNOLOGY

Until recently, the only way to detect snipers was after a shot had been fired.

A new laser sensor can detect shooters before they pull the trigger, and can provide information on the shooter's location.

The Mirage, a hand-held binocular device provided by the San Diego-based company Torrey Pines Logic Inc., sends out a defocused, eye-safe laser up to 1.2 kilometers. The laser bounces off all objects in view, but when it hits the layered optics of a gun scope or other similar devices, it sends back an image in real-time that highlights the exact location of the shooter or observer.

"If you pick up an optic, it literally blooms in this view, it looks like a light shining back at you, even though it's not a light. It's really the reflection of the diffused laser," says Mike Konrad, co-owner of 4ISR LLC, a business partner of Torrey Pines.

Technology embedded in the Mirage provides discrimination of eyeglasses, windows and other everyday objects from possible targets of interest, says David Copenhaver, 4ISR co-owner.

A sniper hidden a mile away is picked up easily, he says.

The technology was developed in response to a need for detecting snipers targeting U.S. troops in Iraq.

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