Where the hell is the mosquito laser turret?

It was now six years ago that Intellectual Ventures released the famous videos of mosquitos being sniped out of mid-air by an ultraviolet laser. I truly hate mosquitos and I consider it my duty to kill them whenever I can, so when I saw this video…

But to my dismay, it wasn’t for sale. These were research videos, not product demos.

Surely it’ll be on the market soon, I thought. Between the need to neutralize mosquitos to prevent the spread of disease, and the market of first world citizens reclaiming their backyards in the evening, there’s too much money on the table for this to linger.

But now it’s six years later, and nothing. Why? Well, I’m not sure, but I did read some good news recently. Apparently, as of late 2015, Intellectual Ventures, the R&D group holding the patent for the technology, has signed a deal with a Florida company called Lighting Science to bring some kind of product to market. That’s all I know. But every time I’m drifting off to sleep and I’m jolted awake by the high-pitched whine of a mosquito in my ear, I think about how ready I am for the mosquito annihilation to begin.