Siemens builds a better beacon

Developed for use as a high-efficiency flashing visual-alarm device in fire-safety systems, the Sinesto flashing beacon is from Siemens Building Technologies rapidly attracts attention to an alarm condition by making use of specific response characteristics of the human eye. The new beacon offers excellent visibility from any angle, and its low power consumption makes it ideal for use in 2-wire detector-bus installations where only limited power is available. The beacons exploit the sensitivity of the human eye to movement at the edge of the field of vision. Six LEDs in the beacon illuminate consecutively at intervals of a few milliseconds. The effect is the same as that produced by movement seen out of the corner of the eye, and attention is rapidly drawn to the beacon.