Safety with Infrared Radiation

Infrared radiation is often used in eye and head tracking. Infrared offers several advantages: the pupil is more easily identifiable under infrared light, and infrared-based trackers can function even in darkness. However, certain safety precautions need to be followed. This section contains information about the safe use of infrared radiation near the eye.

Tip 1: This page is still under development.

Tip 2: Safety Guidelines for Infrared Radiation near the Eye

At this moment, we cannot fully assess the risks of infrared radiation on the eye. We are currently conducting research and will publish our findings soon.

Whether or not we have results, we encourage you to make your own informed decision about the potential risks. Please feel free to use this section as a starting point.

Prerequisite Knowledge: Radiometry

Basic knowledge of radiometry is required.

Lecture PDFs:

• From the University of Berkeley: https://cs184.eecs.berkeley.edu/public/sp19/lectures/lec-11-radiometry/lec-11-radiometry.pdf
• From Stanford University: https://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs348b-03/lectures/radiometry-1.pdf

Alternatively, Video Lectures:

• A 50-minute lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLfYTP4F23g
• An 8-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tflz0loWhIY

By the end, the following units should be understood:

• Geometric units like angles in radians and solid angles in steradians
• Power and energy units like watts and joules
• Radiometric quantities such as radiant flux, irradiance, radiant power density, and luminous intensity

IEC 62471 - Photobiological Safety of Lamps and Lamp Systems

About the IEC

• International Electrotechnical Commission: an international standards organization for electrical and electronic engineering, founded in 1906.
• Wikipedia: International Electrotechnical Commission
• Website: IEC
• Webshop: IEC Webstore

About IEC 62471

• Standard for Photobiological Safety of Lamps and Lamp Systems
• Publications (currently 6 parts): IEC 62471 Publications

Documents and Websites on the Topic

INFO

We are currently working through these sources, sorting out irrelevant ones, and focusing on valuable ones. In the meantime, we will provide the full list, sorted by relevance.

• LUXEON IR Family Eye Safety Application Brief
• ICNIRP Guidelines on Limits of Exposure to Incoherent Visible and Infrared Radiation
• ICNIRP Broadband Guidelines
• AN002_Details on photobiological safety of LED light sources
• NIR Standards
• Effect of Infrared Radiation on the Lens
• IR Illumination and Eye Safety
• Eye Safety Risk Assessment of Infrared Emitting Diodes
• Thermal Effect of Visible Light and Infra-Red Radiation on the Eye: A Study of Infra-Red Cataract Based on a Model
• Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
• Types of Lighting: Incandescent Bulbs
• Optical and Photobiological Safety of LED, CFL, and Other High Efficiency General Lighting Sources
• The Effects of Radiation on the Eye in Industrial Environments