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Laser safety & compliance

Stop chasing paperwork.
Start running shows.

Enter a show once. eleso sets its filing deadlines, fills in the FAA and FDA forms, works out the hazard zones from your projectors’ own specs and compiles the post-show report. You check it and sign.

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FAA Form 7140-1 for an outdoor show in Austin, TX. Picking the show filled 20 fields from the company, variance, crew and show records, each marked auto. Fields it has no record for stay blank for you. Recorded in eleso on 22 October 2026.

Enter a show once. Watch eleso do the rest.

Five things that happen without you retyping anything. Each picture is the app itself.

  1. Deadlines schedule themselves

    You
    Give the show a date, a type and a state.
    eleso
    Counts back every filing: the FAA 7140-1 thirty days ahead of an outdoor show, your state’s notice, insurance, the equipment check and the safety plan. Move the show and they move with it.
    A show's Action items and deadlines list in eleso: FAA Form 7140-1 due Mar 18 2027, Insurance COI Apr 3, Equipment inspection Apr 10, the Texas 7-day advance written notice Apr 10, Safety plan Apr 14.
    An outdoor show in Austin on 17 April 2027: five deadlines, including Texas’s 7-day written notice, created the moment the show was saved.

  2. Forms fill in from what you already entered

    You
    Open a form and pick the show.
    eleso
    Fills it from your company, variance, crew, gear and the show, and marks each field it filled so you can check it. What it has no record of stays blank, never guessed.
    FAA Form 7140-1 in eleso: Organization, City, State and Email are filled and marked auto; Street, ZIP and Phone are empty because the demo company has none on record.
    The same 7140-1 further down. Street, ZIP and phone are empty because the demo company never entered them.

  3. The 3D builder works out the hazard zones

    You
    Place a projector from your gear list and aim it.
    eleso
    Runs one safety engine on that unit’s own power, divergence and aperture. Beams stop at the real walls, and the NOHD and FAA zones on screen are the numbers that go on the forms, with the working shown.
    Watch the 60-second walkthrough
    eleso's indoor 3D builder at The Union Events Center with a placed laser selected and its beam zone traced across the room to the walls.
    The Union Events Center, Salt Lake City: a laser selected, its two zones traced to the walls. Recorded 21 October 2026.

  4. The post-show report compiles itself

    You
    Run the show and tick the checklist on your phone.
    eleso
    Assembles gear, crew, deadlines, checklist completion and incidents into one report, with an Aircraft During the Show section from the ADS-B record. When tracking was off it says so, rather than leaving it out. Every report is kept for five years and feeds the annual 3636.
    A generated post-show report PDF: show details, equipment used with diode powers, personnel, deadlines and filings all completed, QC checklist 100 percent, incident summary, and an Aircraft During the Show section stating no aircraft data was recorded.
    A demo account’s report for an outdoor show. Tracking was off that night, and the aircraft section says so.

  5. Scan the room with your phone

    You
    Walk the venue with your phone’s camera.
    eleso
    Turns the photos into a photo layer on the venue’s own walls, trained on your own computer in the browser. It is for looking only: beams still stop on the measured walls, never on the scan.
    eleso's Capture a venue page on a phone: pick the venue and level, then a checklist before you start.
    Capture a venue, on a 390 px phone screen.

eleso does the arithmetic and the paperwork. You review it, sign it and file it. It is not legal advice, and no regulator has reviewed or endorsed it.

The problem

Laser compliance is a minefield

One missed filing can mean federal fines, a revoked variance, or a show that doesn’t happen. And the rules change at every state line.

FDA variances

Forms 3147, 3632 and 3636. The annual report is due September 1 — miss it and your variance is at risk.

FAA airspace

Form 7140-1 for any outdoor use, filed well ahead of the show, plus the coordination that follows.

Every state is different

Arizona, Florida, New York, Texas — different registrations, fees, timelines and notifications.

Recurring deadlines

Cert renewals, insurance expirations, state registrations — miss one and you’re grounded.

Real consequences

Federal penalties, a lost variance, venue bans. This isn’t optional paperwork.

Scattered systems

Variance letters in one inbox, certs in another, show notes on paper. No single source of truth.

It doesn’t have to be this hard. eleso fills in the forms, tracks every deadline and runs the safety math for you — so staying compliant takes a fraction of the effort.

What’s included

What you get

Everything an LSO needs

Built from the regulations, and reviewed by a veteran LSO and a retired FDA laser reviewer.

FDA forms, filled for you

Show, gear and venue data flows straight into Forms 3147, 3632, 3636 and 3640.

  • Annual report built from your year
  • Export to PDF

Safety math, shown in full

NOHD, irradiance, optical density, FAA zones and audience scanning.

  • Every step of the math visible
  • Every constant cited

Deadlines that track themselves

Filing dates set from each show’s date, state and type.

  • All 50 states plus DC
  • Syncs to your calendar

Gear and eyewear

Your projector fleet and eyewear, with the specs regulators ask for.

  • Projector specs sourced from manuals, verified ones marked
  • FDA variance lookup

Shows, crew and tours

One record per show: venue, crew, gear and documents.

  • Checklists on your phone
  • Tours with gear per stop

Venues in 3D

A to-scale 3D venue in about 20 minutes, indoors or on satellite terrain.

  • Community venue library
  • Beams stop at the real walls
See the venue tools

3D venue builder

A to-scale 3D venue in 20 minutes

Then place your projectors and let the safety engine do the rest.

A venue floor plan traced to scale, seen from above Interior walls detected from the floor plan and built in 3D A multi-level venue rendered in 3D at real scale Inside the 3D venue model, with a laser beam zone across the floor
Upload any floor plan

To scale in about 20 minutes

Drop in a PDF or DXF floor plan, calibrate one known distance, and walls come in at real dimensions. Indoors, or outdoors on satellite terrain.

Built once, shared with everyone

Venues go into a community library, so the next crew in that room starts from a finished model. Your show design never travels with it.

Physics from each projector’s specs

The power, divergence and aperture of the actual unit drive every result: NOHD, irradiance at distance and atmospheric falloff.

Beams stop where the room stops

Scan zones are traced against the real walls, so the hazard area ends where the light actually lands.

FAA zones and audience scanning

NOHD, SZED, CZED and LFED on the outdoor map, plus the audience-scanning test — all from the same engine.

Diagrams ready to file

Export top, side and 3D views as images for the beam-path and safety-zone diagrams the FDA and FAA ask for.

Crew directory

Find laser pros. Get found.

A public directory of LSOs, operators and technicians. Contact details stay private.

Hiring for a show

Search by state, role and whether they bring gear.

  • LSOs, operators and technicians
  • Crew who can supply equipment
  • Direct inquiry — no middleman fees
Browse the directory

Looking for work

List yourself in minutes and stay in control of what’s public.

  • Your roles, certifications and service area
  • First name and last initial only, publicly
  • Free to list — no commissions
Create your listing

Accuracy you can check

Reviewed by seasoned laser safety professionals

From a veteran LSO and safety trainer to a 45-year FDA laser program retiree — they generously reviewed eleso line by line, as volunteers.

Roberta McHatton, LSO

Laser Safety Services LLC · ILDA Board

Three decades at the center of entertainment laser safety: ANSI Z136.1/.4/.6/.10 committees, SAE G-10T, trained the FAA and Transport Canada in outdoor laser safety, laser safety oversight for Metallica, Queen, Cirque du Soleil, EDC and the Grammys. ILDA Career Achievement Award, 2023. Co-author of Laser Safety for the Light Show & Projection Industry.

Cory Tylka

FDA CDRH laser program, retired · 45 years

Forty-five years inside the FDA office that reviews the variances this industry runs on. Creator of FDA eSubmitter, and part of the 2020 modernization that streamlined the laser light show variance process. Her line-by-line review shaped eleso’s Forms 3147, 3632, 3636 and 3640 to match how FDA actually reads them.

Both reviewed eleso as volunteers, in a personal capacity. eleso is not affiliated with, reviewed by or endorsed by the FDA, the FAA or any other agency.

Pricing

Free during early access

Every feature is unlocked for everyone right now — no credit card, no trial clock.

$0

Everything included, for every account.

Early Adopter program Send 10 pieces of feedback before January 1, 2027 to lock in 2 years of Pro for when paid plans launch — 50 slots total.
Get started free

If eleso earns a place in your workflow, you can support development with a donation from Settings.

  • Shows, venues, crew and tours
  • Auto-populated FDA forms and PDF export
  • Safety calculators with full working
  • State rules and deadline calendar
  • Indoor 3D venue builder
  • Outdoor satellite viewer
  • Hardware and eyewear databases
  • Safety packages and show reports
  • Crew directory listing
  • Data export and audit trail

Your next show, ready to file

Set up your company and gear once. Every show after that starts with the forms already filled in.

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