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"...a lot of people find adventure on the Internet. That's their idea of being interactive. My idea of being interactive is going on out and doing it on the street."
- Harlan Ellison
 |
| Light Vests (Laser Tag) | ||
| A vest and light gun combination used to score hits. |
As far as I know, this is the first use of the idea of what we now call "laser tag", which was invented in 1979.
| "I've modified both guns so
that you and the Marshal will
now shoot at each other with
ultra violet light. You'll both
wear vests that are sensitive to
this light. I monitor the hits
electrically by measuring the resistance of those areas where a
bullet would severely injure a
man. Nothing will occur unless
you or the Marshal are hit in
such an area. Furthermore, you
can both continue to shoot for
an indefinite length of time.
However, I've altered the Marshal's aiming mechanism so that
if he's hit in a vital spot, he
won't shoot as accurately. Similarly, if you are hit, a defocussing mechanism operates on
your light bulb so that your gun
is no longer as accurate. And instead of the recorded voice, if
either of you is hit in the heart,
your gun goes dead."
 ('The Fastest Draw' by Larry Eisenberg) |
| Technovelgy from The Fastest Draw,
by Larry Eisenberg. Published by Amazing Stories in 1963 Additional resources -
|
The US Army developed a system using lasers for combat training in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Called multiple integrated laser engagement system, or MILES, it used lasers as well as blank cartridges to simulate battle conditions.
Most of us are familiar with the game Laser Tag:
Be sure to read the article on mechanical marshal from the same story.
In 1982, George Carter III began the process of designing an arena-based system for playing a scored version of the game, a possibility which had initially occurred to him in 1977 while watching the film Star Wars. The grand opening for the first Photon center was in Dallas, Texas on 28 March 1984.
(From Wikipedia
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'The answer to the dumb student's prayer.'
'He had travelled the space-lanes of the solar system for the greater part of his life...'
'The dinner was excellent. It was completely vegetarian — grown in specially prepared gardens in this Moon base...'
'Telepaths had their sensitiveness enlarged to an immense range by the pin-sets, which were telepathic amplifiers adapted to the mammal mind.'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
'But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts. George winced...'
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'The Dillard people had performed a miracle and put all the works in a girl-modeled case.'
