Consultant and lighting designer Benny Tevet warns: the flickering light that is common in discotheques and event halls may trigger seizures in epileptics
Following a tour conducted by the lighting designer Benny Tevet in an event hall that hired his services to redesign the lighting, a health hazard was revealed to the safety of epilepsy patients who frequent event halls and dance clubs that do not use professional lighting design services.
"The flicker is a flashlight with a bright white light that flashes at a very high rate and gives the illusion of movement in slow motion. Flickers are very common in discotheques and in recent years you can also find them in banquet halls." Benny Tevet explains, "The frequency of flickering of the Flickr can endanger epileptic patients and cause an epileptic seizure, as is known in the professional literature."
"Many event halls and dance clubs do not use the services of a professional lighting designer, and do not understand that the direct direction of the Flickr to the audience is a real danger to human life. Professional lighting design can prevent such danger. I've come across places where it's a miracle that an epileptic attack hasn't happened yet. The owners of the places and the revelers are not at all aware of the danger, and there are no warning signs to be found in discotheques and event halls about the Flickr inventions and the danger to epileptics. In many homes, the youth invite a beginner DJ to private parties, who comes with all his "equipment" which of course includes Flickr." Lighting consultant Benny Tevet warns.
Epilepsy is defined as the tendency of the brain to produce sudden, uncontrolled electrical outbursts that disrupt its regular activity. Seizures are symptoms of epilepsy, but not every seizure indicates epilepsy. The conditions that cause the appearance of the disease can be present in a person since birth or develop during life, for example as a result of an injury, disease, infection or defective structure of the brain. One of the types of epilepsy is photosensitive epilepsy. The attack in this type of the disease will be caused by sharp transitions between light and dark. The phenomenon is particularly noticeable due to flashing lights in discotheques and flickering lights in computer games and on television. Most patients with this type of epilepsy are under the age of 30.
"In Israel there is no law that limits the use of Flickr or defines how it is allowed to be used and how it is not, nor is there an obligation enshrined in law to place warning signs in public places for epilepsy patients regarding the danger they may face in those places. Therefore, it is important to warn parents of youth who go to discotheques and people who go to events about the existence of such Flickr, which may trigger an epileptic attack in them." Summarizes Bnei Tevet.
