WEBVTT - How Laser Tag Games Work 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:17.800 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello everybody, 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:20.160 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Polette 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.520 and I'm an editor at how stuff works dot com. 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:25.880 Sitting across from me as usual as senior writer Jonathan. 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:28.240 But I was going into Tusky station to pick up 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:34.280 some power converters. So today we thought we would talk 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:42.520 about something courtesy of a little listener mail. This listener 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.640 mail comes from Johnny. Johnny says, hey, guys, I thought 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:47.839 a good podcast would be on laser Tag, and you 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:51.600 guys are number seventy one on iTunes for you, Thanks Johnny. 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:54.200 Sometimes we get all the way up into the forties 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:57.040 and sometimes we drop off that charting time. We're not 0:00:57.040 --> 0:00:59.480 talking about those times. Now. Let's let's talk about instead. 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:04.360 Let's hope by laser tag. Laser tag, are you is 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:07.680 it out of your system? Now? Not even remotely. Long 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:10.240 time listeners will remember that any time we have a 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.760 podcast in which that word is mentioned, Jonathan will do 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:19.080 that at least once. So, however, laser tag, and at 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:21.479 least in the off the shelf, go it to your 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.200 toy store. Sense does not in fact use lasers right 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:30.080 at least not as the instrument of of transmitting or 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.679 receiving any sort of tag. But there are some systems 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:35.360 to do, and in fact, one of the I would 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.080 consider it sort of the pioneer system for the whole 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:41.560 thing U used by the by the United States Military 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:45.520 as a training exercise. UM does in fact use real 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:49.960 uh lasers. So you're talking about the Multiple Integrated Laser 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:53.680 Engagement System. Yes, I am otherwise known as MILES. Yeah. 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:56.440 My favorite was when uh Pallette actually sent me a 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.920 link in preparation for this podcast, which was to a 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.600 subset of that particular system. And here is the full 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:07.600 title because it just it tickles me. The Multiple Integrated 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:12.440 Laser Engagement System Independent Target System SLASH Wireless Independent Target 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:17.160 System or the MILES its wits. You know, they probably 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:20.400 don't refer to it that way. They may actually use 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:24.160 a number of some kind or they're just like, yeah, 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:27.600 go grab the thingy, grab the thing that's that's actually 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:29.880 a pretty substantial piece of hardware. That the gear that 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:35.200 they're using is much heavier and uh much more substantial 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:37.160 than the stuff that you will find it your local 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:40.080 toys or us. Right now, this stuff is made to 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:45.040 to really simulate battle conditions as as closely as possible 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:48.880 without really putting anyone in harm's way, because clearly one 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:50.640 thing you don't want to do when you're training your 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:54.360 soldiers is shoot them. Yeah, that that turns out to 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:59.160 be a bad motivator. Also you have to train new ones. 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:04.880 But yeah, but anyhow, No, they actually affix the laser 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:09.560 to the end of an actual weapon and the firing blanks. 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:13.079 They fire blank cartridges to simulate the actual experience of 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:15.560 what it's going to feel like when you shoot at somebody, right, 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:17.280 because you don't want you don't want to have the 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:20.360 experience of pulling a trigger and there's no recoil, there's 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:24.360 no bang, there's no vibration, there's nothing other than just 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:26.680 the fact that a little laser shoots out of the 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:28.960 end of the gun. Because then, of course it's not 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:30.800 going to handle the way it really wouldn't the true 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:33.720 combat situation. No, but it is sort of amusing to 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:36.920 think about actual soldiers in actual combat gear running around 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:41.280 the field going right, you're dead, I hit you know 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:44.040 you did, and yes, I did it totally did you 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:47.400 know what That's funny because in this these systems actually 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:49.800 go back to the nineties seventies from what I understand, 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:51.920 and uh, they actually sort of did that in the 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:55.080 very first versions. Um, when you would shoot somebody, the 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:58.680 system would register that you had been hit, but people 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:00.400 would turn them off and turn them right back on, 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.200 which would essentially reboot the system and suddenly they were 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.680 alive again, right, and there there was no connection between 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:11.080 the gun and the sensors so um, which meant that 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:13.320 you can keep firing, right if you if you made 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:16.839 if you made it a connection where I mean, the 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:19.240 thing that makes sense is that if you are hit, 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:22.800 then you are incapacitated someone, especially if your hits some places, 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:27.120 that's gonna be a uh pretty critical wound, right if 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:31.200 you're hitting the leg. Theoretically, you could keep on firing, 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:33.520 although I would imagine most of us would probably be 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:36.400 mostly concerned about trying to get undercover and and to 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.360 stop the bleeding. You know, it's there are people who, 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:43.760 in extraordinary circumstances can continue to fight even under that 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:47.560 kind of that kind of wound. But um, but the 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.320 way the system theoretically should work is that if you 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:52.640 were hitting a critical area, your gun would no longer 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:55.880 function because if this were a real situation, you would 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:59.240 no longer be able to fire your your weapon. Um. Now, 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:02.360 the earliest them did not have that connection. There was 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.880 a sensor, and there were or several sensors, usually placed 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:08.680 in various strategic areas on the body, like there might 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:10.440 be one on the belt, there might be one or 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.240 or several on a vest, on the back of the vest, 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:16.040 maybe on the helmet, um sometimes on the arms and 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:21.800 legs as well. Uh, before the the in the early days, 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:23.479 like you were saying, there was no connection. So if 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.440 you were hitting the sensor, yeah, it would register that 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:28.839 you are a quote unquote dead. But you could keep 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.960 firing the gun cheating, or as you said, you could 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.200 turn it off, turn it back on. It's like rebooting 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:39.000 a computer. Suddenly you're alive again. It's like getting extra lives. Sadly, 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:43.760 this is not something that pertains to actual battle conditions. 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:47.240 It turns out that if you're shot in battle, you 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:50.200 don't have a magic reboot button, as much as I 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.680 wish it were otherwise. So since that is kind of 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.200 antithetical to the whole purpose of training, I mean, you're 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:59.200 not you're not training so that you win your training, 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:01.000 so that you understand and what you need to do 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:06.440 in an actual battle situation. So eventually these systems became 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:09.520 more sophisticated so that they could communicate with one another, 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:13.040 the sensor and the gun, so that the sensor, once 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:16.560 it was registered a hit would deactivate the guns. You 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:18.680 could not keep firing, and you were you were dead. 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:24.400 A many generations from that very first system now right, right, yes, yes, 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.400 the system they used now is is far more advanced. 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:29.640 In fact, one of the things I thought was really 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.800 kind of cool about the system that the military uses 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:38.400 is that they have they can actually set the the 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:41.599 the burst that comes out of the gun and tune 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:43.920 it to the various kinds of weapons they actually use 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:46.839 or they might actually come into contact with. Right, So 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:52.200 it's not like a laser from your your assault rifle 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:54.080 would be the same as a laser from a handgun 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:59.360 or say a rocket propelled grenade. Even they can adjust 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.920 the power and the intensity and even the the uh, 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:06.640 the sensitivity of the sensors. So let's say that you 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:11.600 they they'll often use um armored vehicles in these training exercises. 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:15.600 Well armored vehicles of course. I mean the they have armor, 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.960 and that armor is pretty tough stuff and your average 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:21.720 gun cannot pierce it. So if you were to shoot 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:24.840 an armored vehicle with one of these guns, your shots 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:27.880 might hit your target, but they wouldn't register as a 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:31.680 hit because in reality, the bullet would not penetrate the armor. 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:35.080 But if you had a heavier weapon, um, and you 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:37.840 fired at that vehicle, then it might register it as 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:40.360 a hit because you've used a weapon that would actually 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:42.880 be capable of doing some serious damage to that vehicle. 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:47.320 This kind of you know, sensitivity, really makes it an 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:52.400 effective tool for simulating these these conditions. Now, the version 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:57.840 that you see in the world of citizens is nowhere 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:02.760 near as sophisticated or compl x or expensive or expensive. 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.440 It's still it's still can be fairly complex. It doesn't 0:08:06.480 --> 0:08:10.560 have to be the the you know, stupid version. But uh, 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:12.880 I guess what we should probably do is let's let's 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.800 go from the low end and work our way up. Okay, 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:19.880 So a very basic laser tag system, yes, as in 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:23.200 the kind that originally came out back in the uh well, 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:25.840 late seventies was when the first one started coming out, 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:28.080 But eighties is really when I remember him because that's 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:32.080 when I remember laser tag itself debuting. Well yes, um, yeah, 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:34.080 the very the very first one. And I should say 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:36.120 that I got a lot of my information from a 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:39.480 from a website of a guy named Brian Farley, um 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.360 who uh. If you're in laser tag circles, you might 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:46.559 know him as Tag Ferret. Uh. Apparently he's a laser 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:50.040 tag enthusiast, but he's also the software engineer and co 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:54.120 inventor of the Laser Tag Team OPS line of toys, 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:58.160 which is a newer version of laser Tag. Um. But 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:00.840 he had a pretty neat that had all sorts of 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:05.920 history um and apparently, according to what he said, the 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:09.679 very first system was the Star Trek Phasers that came 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:13.120 out in nine which is funny because I thought that 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:18.400 the the arena style uh laser tag systems were popular 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:21.120 first and that they were a take home product based 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:23.760 on that. But apparently I was wrong, right. It was 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:27.720 the good old set stun. Yes, yes, so it was 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:31.600 set to laser but but no, it was a guy 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:34.440 named George Carter the third who was inspired by the 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:38.680 aforementioned uh sort of uh Star Wars, who decided he 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:42.120 wanted to create an arena where you could play, uh, 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:45.520 a laser gun game. Um, and he's the one who 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:49.840 apparently came up with the system known as photon Um. 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:55.640 First center opened in four in Houston. No, I'm sorry, 0:09:55.679 --> 0:10:03.160 I'm sorry. First system opened in Dallas. Well, the the 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:07.760 these weapons did not use laser beams, despite their name. 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:14.000 What they're using our infrared signals, infrared LED I believe, 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:21.480 and uh and so it's outside the spectrum of visible light, 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:23.760 so you can't you know, we can't see it. It's 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:30.880 we do actually sinse infrared radiation as heat. So but 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:36.000 there's some problems with infrared signals. Now, almost all current 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:38.920 laser tag systems, apart from the military one and a 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.920 couple of commercial ones for for entertainment use, still rely 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.120 on infrared signals. But one of the problems is that 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:50.079 it's a divergent beam, meaning that it doesn't remain focused 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:53.280 like a laser does, doesn't have a great range, it 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:55.960 can bounce off stuff, so you can actually get hit 0:10:56.000 --> 0:11:01.559 by infrared ricochets. But more important eight and as far 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:03.840 as the game goes, you don't have to be terribly 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:06.800 accurate with one of these guns to register a hit 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.000 in general, I mean, you can do things to refine 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:13.199 it as much as possible, but in general, the further 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.640 a way you are, as long as you're within still 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:20.480 you know the range of whatever the gun you're using is, 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:24.640 because you can change the intensity of these things. Um, 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:26.760 the further way you are, the less accurate you need 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.680 to be in order to register a hit. Yeah, and um, 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:33.520 you could tell doing some research actually some of the 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:36.040 the the knockoff systems, the ones that were really inexpensive. 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:39.840 We're using a form of visible light, but those were 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.199 horribly inaccurate, right, and if you tried to play them 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:45.679 outside you could get hit by the sun. Yes, that's 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:48.680 sort of a sort of a problem because you in 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:51.840 general are gonna want some kind of room to run 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.480 when you're playing these games. Um. But but yeah, I mean, 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:58.040 and it's possible to use a lens to try to 0:11:58.080 --> 0:11:59.839 focus it down, and some of the laser tags is 0:11:59.880 --> 0:12:04.079 to over the years have done this and and to 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:07.520 varying degrees of success. I mean, Um, a lot of 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:11.480 the earlier systems apparently used out uh an infrared emitter 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:15.960 with about a plus or minus five degree um, which 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:19.560 had sort of a mediumish range like a hundred to 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.960 two hundred feet somewhere in there. UM from what I 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:27.880 read UM on Mr Farley's website. Uh, some of them 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:31.360 more advanced systems UM. And also read read that as 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:35.000 expensive systems can get up to around three ft three 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:38.560 fifty feet UM. But as you said, I'm not sure 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.040 how you know whether or not they're as accurate from 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:44.439 that distance as they would be if you were closer up. Yes, 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:46.680 it's very similar. And we'll talk a little bit about 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.120 remote controls in the second because the two are related related. 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:52.079 But it's kind of like if you have a remote 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:54.559 control where you can just kind of pointed in the 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:58.480 general direction of the television or cable box or whatever 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.800 and it'll it'll work. UM. That usually means that it's 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:06.679 got a decent powered led in an infrared l E 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:09.360 ED may even have more than one. Some remotes have 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:13.280 multiples so that it gives you a wider angle that 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.080 you can use to to change the channel. You know, 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:18.320 I don't know about anyone else, but I have played 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:21.280 the game of how how how wide an angle can 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:23.920 I get before I can't turn up the volume anymore 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:29.360 because I don't have friends. So um. Also, well, let's 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:31.880 work if I bounce it off the couch, how about 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:36.480 the ceiling. Yeah, So, same thing with the some of 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:39.040 these laser tag games is the same sort of general 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:41.600 idea is that you don't have to be uh like, 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.679 have a dead on aim in order to to really 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:47.079 register a hit. Now, some of them actually do use 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:49.680 lasers in the sense that they'll use them as an effect, 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:52.880 like the there'll be a second l e ed or 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:56.840 a second like a laser attached to the gun that 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:01.680 fires visible light. But that's not what is actually registering hits. 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:04.560 That's just all it is, is just a visual effect 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:07.800 to give it that extra little so that when you're 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:10.000 pulling the trigger, you're not thinking, hey, my gun's not 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:14.280 doing anything right. So, um, I hadn't actually realized that 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.040 some of them actually used lasers like that. Yeah. Again, 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:19.520 it's just as an effect, it's not it's not as 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.520 a way to transmit a hit. And these infrared systems 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:27.200 can get pretty advanced now. In the old laser tag system, 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:30.920 um pretty much meant that any hit was gonna register 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:34.360 on your target, like any any hit from any other 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:37.600 laser laser tag gun. Yeah. Yeah, I mean you could 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:42.160 essentially shoot yourself and because the the very first system 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.120 named laser tag and that's laser with a z uh, 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:50.760 which came out by Worlds of Wonder Um and um 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.720 yeah it the gun wasn't connected at all to the sensor, 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:56.280 so it had no idea who was shooting whom and 0:14:56.920 --> 0:14:58.920 whose team you were on or any of that information. 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.280 It was just a since or and just an emitter really, 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:04.480 that's all it was. And it helped to be standing 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.280 within three feet of your target because otherwise, you know, 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:09.880 it wasn't as accurate as you might like it to write. Now, 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.920 the more advanced laser tag systems can do much more 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:16.720 sophisticated things. For example, you can build into your sensor 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:20.840 a database of codes. This is again very similar to 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:24.560 what remote controls do. And in the guns you can 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:28.880 set it so that the the infrared beam that it 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:33.160 shoots has a very specific series of pulses, so when 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:36.400 the sensor is hit, it can actually detect who shot you. 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:40.480 And that's very much what goes on with your remote control, 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:44.320 because your remote control is using a series of codes 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:46.960 as well. Um. Otherwise it wouldn't be able to tell 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.520 which number you're pressing if you want to change your channel, 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:53.280 or whether you want the volume up or down or off. 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:57.280 Each of those has its own identifiable code. So um, 0:15:57.480 --> 0:15:59.920 so yeah, like if you push, if you volume up, 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:03.360 this series of this series of pulses comes out. And 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:06.200 then what happens is the receiver that the sensor picks 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:10.360 up those series of pulses, it converts it into binary 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:14.240 and then consults its little database to see what that 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.120 command translates to. Same sort of thing with laser tech. 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:20.720 It'll look up its database and say, oh, well, player 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:23.360 two was the one who shot you, And so you 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:24.760 can see at the end of the game who it 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:27.400 was that was, you know, plaguing you, and if it 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:29.320 was someone from your own team, you can chew them out. 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:34.040 But uh, and and a lot of these systems also 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:39.320 will include a radio frequency transmitter and that is sending 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:42.840 signals to the master control not the master control program 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:45.520 was about to go into tron there for a second. Uh, 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:49.480 the master control unit, which will then kind of act 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:53.480 as a score a scoreboard, you know, keeping track of 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:56.040 who shot whom and which team is winning and that 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:58.840 kind of thing. And um again, it's just that the 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.640 sensor picks up the it sends a signal to the 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:04.280 RF transmitter which then sends a signal to the master 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.520 control unit, and uh, you know, it keeps record of 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.520 your score. It's pretty cool system. I'm I have never 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:14.080 played in one of those laser tag arena type things. 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.159 I've played the back when I was a kid in 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:19.120 the eighties, I actually did play with the the laser 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:22.600 tag system that the first one that hidden in eight six. 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:25.560 Like you said, Um, but that was very primitive compared 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:29.239 to these. Yes, yes, um, yeah, there's there's a lot 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:32.919 of history out there about those systems. Um. I was 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:35.960 one of the people that, Um, apparently, when World's Wonder 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:41.240 went into bankruptcy, Uh, it was really easy to pick 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:45.480 up the original laser tag system on the cheap, which 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:49.000 is what I and two of my closest friends did 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.920 in high school. And I remember, Um, you know, we'd 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:54.679 go up to school at night and run around in 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:56.480 parts of the area where they had you know, the 0:17:56.720 --> 0:18:01.760 school trailers and stuff. Uh, and we would play laser tag. However, UM, 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:05.200 it would probably have benefited us if we had paid 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:08.560 attention to what it was going on, because um, as 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:12.600 a matter of fact, somebody was somebody was. Actually it's 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:14.639 not funny. I don't didn't mean to to laugh, but 0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:17.879 it's ironically enough, somebody was actually killed playing at a 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:21.119 school when a police officer who was responding to a 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:25.800 call about somebody running around the school with a gun. Uh, 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:28.960 you know, he was investigating, and when the kid had 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:31.119 the laser tag gun and pointed it at him, he 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.240 fired in what he thought was self defense. So I 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.520 wouldn't recommend if you decided to go out and buy 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:39.320 a laser tag kit that you run around in places 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:42.240 where it is dark and you may or may not 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:46.280 appear to be up to no good. Yeah, of course 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:48.840 it's back in the eighties. This was back still in 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:51.680 the time where you would be able to purchase toy guns. Yeah, 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:55.080 the toy guns that looked like at least, you know, 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:58.640 an analog to a real gun. Nowadays it's all neon colors. 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.200 Of course, that always raises the question in my mind, 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:04.359 what stops someone from painting a real gun on neon color? 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:08.080 But let's not go there. Well enough people paint the 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:11.600 fake guns black, so the people it's just a big 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:17.000 crazy um. But no, actually, in response to that, Worlds 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:20.320 of Wonder, although it was still operating under bankruptcy conditions, 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:23.679 uh did make some white different white weapons, and they 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:25.800 came out with a whole bunch of other stuff too. 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:29.000 After UM They after they initially went under, the company 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:31.960 re emerged a couple of years ago. They a few 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:35.760 of the original founders formed a new company UM and 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:38.720 UH called Shoot the Moon Products, which is still in existence. 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:41.800 UM and they licensed their stuff to to Tiger, and 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:43.480 they came out with a whole bunch of new stuff. 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:47.600 They even had a basically a blast bazooka laser tag 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:50.640 bazooka that would function as a mortar, as a bazooka, 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:54.400 or as a rifle, depending on what it was attempting 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:59.239 to do. I guess that just increases the area of effect. Yes, yes, well, 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:00.960 I mean if you're using it as a bazook would 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:03.320 it would fire any in a very short pattern, but 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:07.560 in a wide array, so virtually anybody within a certain 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:11.280 area is going to get hit. UM And in mortar 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:13.840 mode it would actually fire in an arc UH and 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.959 protect its sensor from an attack from the front. And 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:19.920 if you used it as a rifle, it would actually 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:22.680 Now I'm going from the marketing compy, I'm just trying 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:26.080 to figure out how you fire infra red ray in 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:29.040 an arc. Yeah. I was kind of wondering that too, 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:31.440 but that's what it's supposed to have done. And then 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:33.520 in the rifle mode it is is a highly you know, 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:38.520 it's a very precise and more precise and precise. Well, yeah, 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:42.320 but I don't think it was. It wasn't uh sending 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:44.240 the signal out over his wider ranges when it was 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:47.520 in the other mode. But apparently it was really neat 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:50.600 and again really expensive because you know, it was a 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:54.800 larger toy. Yeah, and some of the guns would have 0:20:54.960 --> 0:20:57.560 I remember reading about one that would have sensors on 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:00.000 the gun itself so that if the gun were hit 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:02.600 it um a certain number of times, it would stop working. 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:04.600 And and of course a lot of the laser tag 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:07.760 games that are in arenas or whatever are in systems 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:11.719 where similar to the military, if you are hit a 0:21:11.720 --> 0:21:14.080 certain number of times, your gun will stop working and 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:16.600 you have to go and recharge or to uh to 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:20.600 continue playing. Um. It's a lot simpler now than it 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:23.119 was back in the eighties when really the only option 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:25.439 you had back then if you wanted to try and 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:29.240 achieve that would be to tether the gun to the vest, 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:32.840 which you know then affects your mobility. Yeah, but it would, 0:21:32.960 --> 0:21:35.399 and it also would involve some hacking, especially on these 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:38.600 off the shelf systems that you would get forty or 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:41.480 fifty dollars. What's interesting is I have seen plans on 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:44.679 the internet for building your own laser tag gun and 0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:47.840 sensor systems. Interesting. I looked through them and they are 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:52.679 well above my area of expertise. So after reading the 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:55.320 first three or four steps, I said, this is a 0:21:55.359 --> 0:22:00.920 good project for someone much more electronically inclined than I. So, 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:02.760 so you're not handy with a soldering iron, is what 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:07.280 you're saying. I'm a left hander. I find that most 0:22:07.280 --> 0:22:10.280 tools are designed for right handers. And that's my story, 0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:13.520 and I'm stick and do it that I'm a sinister 0:22:13.640 --> 0:22:16.399 kind of guy. That's an old French joke for you 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:21.000 guys out there, alright, Well, not like an old French 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:24.920 it's a joke about never mind. Um right, well, let's 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:27.200 let's go back to remote control just for a second. Sure, 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:29.520 so I know where you're gonna We gave the connection 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:34.399 between remote controls and laser tag uh. We should, of 0:22:34.440 --> 0:22:37.080 course say that this means remote controls that are using 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:41.840 infrared signals not. Most most modern ones do, although some 0:22:41.920 --> 0:22:44.720 of them do use radio signals, right, And I wouldn't 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:47.359