I did a little real world testing (with the aid of my wife). This was done outside at a park where we were camping. We allowed my night vision to recover some between each stage of the testing. Very subjective testing.
-My wife, standing roughly 20 ft away, turns on the strobe function while pointing the light at me.
My night vision is instantly toast and although I could certainly tell where the strobe was, I had no idea what my wife's physical location was in relation to the strobe. I could look at the light from that distance but it was very unpleasant. I probably would have instinctively charged, thrown something, or shot at, the light itself - so if it was held away from the body I would have likely missed my target.
-My wife repeats the test from roughly 10ft away.
All of the above holds true except I can no longer look at the light and was forced to either close my eyes or look away. I can see that momentary distraction being very useful to law enforcement (shock effect). I would have LOVED to have that function when I was a LEO.
-My wife repeats the test from roughly 10ft away and then rushes me while the strobe is on.
This was the shocker. I never "felt" disoriented, but apparently I lost my depth perception along with my night vision because my wife was able to run the 3-4 steps up to me and tap me on the shoulder and I was SURE that she was still standing back. It absolutely startled the crap out of me!
In LEO terms, it seems like you might (under the right conditions of course) be able to run right up and mace (or whatever) someone at point blank. Boy would that have been nice.
An additional note. In the past I've blasted Deer, Racoons, Fox, Dogs, Cats, and a young Bear with a Magcharger and/or the high power mode of an L2. The usual reaction was to stare at me. With the Gladius strobe there -tends- to be more of a look away and then wander away reaction (at least from Racoons and Dogs). It's not like they run away but they do seem to back off.