It doesn't sound like there's much danger to the human eye because of the way the beam is scanned, although I certainly wouldn't like up to stare into the laser at close range. Camera chips are vulnerable since there's no cornea or vitreous humor to absorb the incident radiation, it's focused directly onto some delicate electronics that don't have the ability to heal minor damage.
m463 · 5h ago
I wonder if you have to watch out getting in a waymo taxi
I recall from maybe 5~10 years ago where someone filmed a laser show on a camera and the sensor got damaged with lines stuck in the on state. The lasers were moving very quickly so they wouldn't hit any spot for a long time, but apparently it was enough to damage the camera. e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bpyMST7eCA [2015-12-02] (not the first video that I ever saw)
https://www.laserfocusworld.com/blogs/article/14040682/safet...