Gustave Trouvé invented the “Photophore”, or battery-powered frontal headlamp, which he developed for a client, Dr Paul Hélot, an ear-nose-and-throat specialist from Rouen. This wearable direct shaft lighting system could be oriented by head movements, thus freeing the hands of its wearer and allowing him to work on his patient. According to a correspondance exchanged between these two men, this invention occurred during 1883. Gustave Trouvé soon modified their frontal headlamp for use by miners, rescue workers, and later by speleologists in dark surrounding – but also for artists groups in Paris and Europe by tinting the light with various colors as theater jewelry.
Special thanks to Kevin Desmond, author of the biography “Gustave Trouvé, French Electrical Genius”.
