Aiming for safety

IRL research scientist Robert Breukers (left and Hunter Safety Lab CEO Michael Scott perform testing in IRL's photonics laboratory.

Hunter Safety Lab (HSL), an entrepreneurial start-up company based in Wellington, sees their participation in IRL’s Scientist for a Day (SFAD) programme as a further step towards providing a solution to a pressing problem facing the hunting community.

Regularly in New Zealand and hundreds of times each year in the United States, a hunter will accidentally shoot another hunter. While it is easy to attribute qualities of laziness and carelessness to the shooter in such instances, it is often people considering themselves safety-conscious and careful hunters who are involved, and who cannot explain their lapse of judgement.

Several well-known psychological factors can contribute to these incidents. Years of experience can lead a hunter’s brain to pre-determine the outcome subconsciously, resulting in ‘scenario fulfilment’, ‘confirmation bias’ or ‘early closure’. All of these are commonly known as ’buck fever’, and refer to the subjective nature of the human brain being able to see things that are not there or ignore things that are.

The Chief Executive of HSL, Michael Scott, and his co-founder David Grove, are industrial designers with more than a technical interest in their project.

“We are hunters ourselves and our mission is to prevent accidental shootings and save lives by developing simple and affordable safety technology for hunters.”

HSL has been engaging with IRL on two levels: discussions around a patent-pending gun-mounted sensor prototype with Auckland’s Intelligent Machines and Devices team; then, through the SFAD programme, spending a day with IRL’s Photonics team in Wellington looking at optimising detectable clothing for hunting situations.

The team carried out initial testing on a variety of fabrics and surface treatments.

“We are trying to remove the subjective aspect of this significant problem,” says Scott.

“The sensor sits passively on the gun in the direction of fire, intervening only when it detects the fabric worn by the hunter in its sights, up to a 250-metre range. It then makes a purely objective decision based on its micro-processor and provides a warning to the hunter.”

Scott says the company’s SFAD participation has provided them with a good start to the project.

“We’ve been able to obtain some excellent baseline data and made some interesting discoveries around the properties of particular dyes and resins.”

IRL Account Manager Jonathan Miller says that the project is based on an exciting idea by a talented New Zealand entrepreneur and the new technology could be game-changing.

“HSL is a high-tech, export-focused company that is making great progress in terms of market validation and we are enjoying developing R&D possibilities with them.”