TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Graphics Chip Guides Mosquito-Zapping Laser Beam

Dennis Barker | Date: 03-30-11 | Comments

In the war on malaria, inventors turn to GPUs.

The tiny mosquito is one of the leading killers of human beings. Nearly 1 million people a year are victims of fatal malaria, often transmitted by mosquito. Pesticides and nets are effective deterrents only some of the time. Spraying, for example, works only when mosquito larvae are at a certain stage of development, and some communities question the potential danger of the chemicals to non-mosquito life.

Now the newest line of attack involves laser beams and Nvidia graphics chips�known for destroying monsters and other videogame villains but not for zapping flying disease-carrying insects.

A laser beam, guided by an Nvidia GPU, zaps a female mosquito in midair. (Source: Intellectual Ventures)

Intellectual Ventures, a research and invention company founded by former Microsoft brain Nathan Mhyrvold, has been working for a couple years on a "laser fence" that would serve as a line of defense against mosquito swarms. (This project is part of the company's Malaria Project.) The idea is that lasers mounted on a fence would target and zap the bugs before they can invade the human environment.

"Some of our inventors were involved in the Star Wars defense planning from the 1980s. For them, the idea of using lasers to shoot mosquitoes was one of those 'it's so crazy, it just might work!' ideas," the company says.

One of the big challenges, though, is helping the laser beams identify the right target. And that's where the Nvidia GPU comes in.

A camera on the fence captures images of a mosquito as it comes into local airspace and then relays that image to the graphics processor. The GPU analyzes that data, determines if it represents a viable target, then orders the laser to fire. The processor isn't like some crazy killer firing at anything that moves. No, it's smart enough to recognize not just a mosquito, but a female mosquito�and that's what the system is looking for.

"You have to recognize that it's a mosquito, versus all of the other bugs that might be flying around, recognize that it's a female mosquito, and then shoot it down," an Nvidia marketing executive told KGO-TV in San Francisco.

Why spare the males? Well, you don't want to completely eliminate the species. No more mosquitoes would have disastrous consequences for other creatures; bats, for example, routinely dine on the annoying, whining little guys. If the laser fence/zapper proves effective, female mosquitoes could become a delicacy.

Intellectual Ventures has said the zapping device could eventually sell for about $50. You can watch a very brief video of the laser hitting its target here.