Flash blindness

Flash blindness is visual impairment during and following exposure to a light flash of extremely high intensity. It may last for a few seconds to a few minutes.

For example, in everyday life, the subject of a flash photograph can be temporarily flash blinded. The bright light overwhelms the eye and only gradually fades. A bright spot or spots may be seen for many minutes. This phenomenon is leveraged in non-lethal weapons such as flash grenades and laser dazzlers.