Summary:
On really special evenings, when you need to make a big entrance, this tiara will do it for you.
This tiara has a row of vertical light rays emanating from it. Instead of gold and precious gems, light itself crowns this tiara.

Styling:
From the center front of the tiara, a single green laser beam extends straight up to the sky. Along the sides and back of the tiara, white lights beam upward from focused LED lights. These shorter beams echo the vertical line of the single laser beam, creating a cohesive visual design.

Light Construction:
The laser is a commercially available Class IIIa (<5mw) green laser pointer. Green laser pointer beams are visible in mid-air in low light, whether the air is smoky, dusty, foggy, or clear. The barrel of the laser is silver-toned to go with the silver-tone frame of the tiara.
For safety of the "audience," the laser must always point directly upward, even when the wearer of the tiara nods or leans forward. In order to make sure the laser always points upward, a pivoting axle mounts the laser to the tiara. The handle of the laser hangs down freely from the pivot point. As the user bends forward, the laser pivots relative to the tiara, but stays the same orientation to gravity. An axle that runs horizontally between the two highest points of the tiara, about six inches above the head, attaches the pivot point of the light to the tiara. The tiara is open below the pivot point so the light can pivot unobstructed.
Laser pointers as short as 2.5 inches and 1/2 inch diameter are available.
In addition to the single laser, there are several LED lights along the sides of the tiara. These also point upward. The LED lights are the kind you find in key-ring flashlights, with a built in lens to create a focused beam. They are powered by watch batteries.

Frame Construction:
The base of the tiara is a metal frame with some rows of rhinestone decoration. These extra rows of rhinestones add stability to the frame, and help cover the flashlight bodies. The rhinestones are clustered at the points where the LED beams emerge.

The tiara comes with a coiled braid hairpiece that it rests on, so that the wearer's head is cushioned. The hairpiece also provides a place to nestle any extra wires, batteries, or hardware that is needed.
The back of the hairpiece is weighted to counterbalance the weight of the laser in front.

The base can also be wreathed in ribbon, flowers (for summer) or holly (for winter) to provide extra cover if needed.

Safety Considerations:
The laser on top of the tiara should never be pointed at someone's eyes, even at a distance. Do not point at home or car windows. Do not use within 2 miles of an airport runway.
Just to be extra safe, whoever wears the tiara should walk with a regal bearing, and turn the tiara off (or take it off) when she is doing anything that might jar the tiara. She would behave responsibly, just as someone using a laser pointer should behave responsibly. But the tiara is not to be worn through the evening. It is a showpiece, a costume, a ceremonial garment, an entrance maker.

Don't wear it if you're at all ill, shaky, or allergic. If necessary, use prosthetic devices (walker, neck-brace) for stability.

And people around you must be smart, the same way anyone standing near the laser scanner in a grocery store must be smart.

From Yahoo: "People, even infants, instinctively do not focus on the sun and the same is true of a laser pointer beam. Research done at the Mayo Clinic* shows that even staring at the beam for as long as several minutes does not result in permanent eye damage. Insurance companies are perhaps the best gauges of safety, since their financial well-being depends on identifying dangerous products. The premium for laser pointer insurance is no more than for office chairs."

*. “Laser Pointers and the Human Eye, A Clinicopathologic Study”, Dennis M. Robertson, MD, et al. published in Clinopathologic Report, Dec. 2000.
-- robinism, Jun 23 2004

The original inspiration http://silverscreen...alleries/hedy16.htm
Look at Hedy's headdress, with the stars shooting out [robinism, Oct 17 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

The closest thing on halfbakery http://www.halfbake..._20generating_20hat
A halo, which is horizontal. My tiara has vertical beams [robinism, Oct 17 2004]

Green laser pointer, Class IIIa http://laserpointer.net/libagrlapo.html
4.13 inches long. Uses lithium battery. [robinism, Oct 17 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Tiara Frame http://members.cox....inism/tiaraPrep.jpg
The laser goes in the center. The LED lights go on each point of the tiara. [robinism, Oct 17 2004]

Saint Lucia http://www.internet.../holidays/nora.html
With her headdress of candles [robinism, Oct 17 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Green laser beams http://www.thinkgee...5a47/action/210cd9d
Demonstration of their visibility [robinism, Jan 12 2005]

My tiara electrocuted me... I'm suing!!! [+-]
-- kranedawg, Jun 23 2004


Oh is that why you were writhing? I thought you were wearing a "Spasmatic Shirt".
-- robinism, Jun 23 2004


One sneeze and half the room is blinded...
-- phoenix, Jun 23 2004


[phoenix], in order to prevent accidental laser eye surgery on the audience, I've added some "Safety Considerations" to the general description.

Good news about sneezing - if one is motivated not to bend the neck while sneezing, one can sneeze with one's head up. I can say this with confidence, having undergone cervical spine fusion surgery 4 months ago.
-- robinism, Jun 23 2004


Please write up the Spasmodic Shirt idea.
-- Mustardface, Jan 08 2005


I don't know if this idea is worthy of an illustration, but I think it needs one if it is ever going to come across. Oh HB powers that be, please add this idea to the list of "Ideas needing illustration." :-) Thank you!
-- robinism, Jan 11 2005


I love the way you have thought this through so well! I have this thing for lasers. I have always wondered how you can see a laser unless it is shone in your eye though...I thought all the light beams travelled straight forwards, and not to the sides. So how does the light reach your eyes?
-- pooduck, Jan 12 2005


Shoot, [pooduck], I wish I knew. I think the laser light gets scattered by particles in the air. It's the scattered-by-particle light that you see when viewing the beam from the side. This is how laser light shows work - lots of smoke or steam in the air.

So why can't you see the beam of a red laser pointer from the side? I don't know. Maybe because the power is lower, or maybe because red frequencies don't scatter as much as green.
-- robinism, Jan 12 2005


Hey [robinism] thanks, I was wondering if it was scattering. Does this mean that the tiara and the wearer would have to be shrouded in some kind of refractive fog?
-- pooduck, Jan 12 2005


Since my mind is in kind of a refractive fog right now, it's hard to say. Even when the air seems clear, there are still plenty of dust particles and gas molecules that can scatter light. On a clear night the beam travels further, on a foggy night the beam appears brighter. Either way, its ok.

I added a link to a page with user photos of green laser pointers. Might be a good item for your Christmas list...
-- robinism, Jan 12 2005


That's utter wow! I don't think laser light is the most graceful kind of light if you get my meaning... it might make the dainty and charming wearer look more like an enraged vicious robot creature or the like.
-- pooduck, Jan 12 2005


The look is not so much "dainty" as "diety." At least, that's the hope.
-- robinism, Jan 12 2005


I'm thinking that you're not considering that cheap lasers are now culturally Lowest Common Denominator. Because the lights don't cost US$500 apiece, but instead US$3.99 apiece, your tiara will retail at US$20 or so, and thus not care the economic cache needed to be in demand among the celebs.
-- Soterios, Mar 03 2005


Unless, of course, it's manufactured from Sterling.

I have no objections.
-- shapu, Mar 03 2005


[Soterios], it's true that lasers are coming down in price. That's why the green laser used in the tiara costs only $100.

The tiara uses the more expensive green laser because it's beam is much more visible from the side, in various light conditions, than that of the cheap laser pointers.
-- robinism, Mar 03 2005



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