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.jpg) Players being briefed before a game of laser tag | |
| Nicknames | Lazer tag, lasertag, laser-tag, lasergames, laser skirmish |
|---|---|
| First played | 1984 |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | No physical contact between players is allowed; Contact can result in penalties. |
| Team members | Varies depending on game format and level of play (recreational or professional) |
| Type | Indoor, outdoor, mobile, toy |
| Equipment | Laser guns and targets worn by players |
Laser tag is a recreationalshooting sport where participants useinfrared-emittinglight guns totag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits and are sometimes integrated within the arena in which the game is played.[1]
Since its birth in 1979, with the release of the Star Trek Electronic Phasers toy manufactured by the South Bend Electronics brand ofMilton Bradley, laser tag has evolved into both indoor and outdoor styles of play, and may include simulations ofclose quarter combat,role play-style adventure games, or competitive sporting events including tactical configurations and precise game goals.
Laser tag is popular with a wide range of ages. Laser tag tournaments are staged for local, regional/state, inter-regional, national, bi-lateral international, and international levels.
In late 1970s and early 1980s, theUnited States Army deployed a system usinglasers forcombat training. ThisMILES system functioned like laser tag in that beams are "fired" into receivers that score hits.[2]
The first known toy to use infrared light and a corresponding sensor was manufactured and marketed in 1979 as theStar Trek ElectronicPhaser Guns set to accompany the release ofStar Trek: The Motion Picture.[3]
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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 filmStar Wars. The Grand Opening for the firstPhoton center was inDallas, Texas on 28 March 1984.[4] Carter was honored by the International Laser Tag Association on 17 November 2005 for his contribution to the laser tag industry. Theaward is engraved "Presented to George A. Carter III in recognition for being the Inventor and Founder of the laser tag industry".[5]
In 1986, the firstPhoton toys were sold, nearly simultaneously with theLazer Tag toys fromWorlds of Wonder and several other similar infrared and visible light-based toys.Worlds of Wonder went out of business around 1988, andPhoton soon followed in 1989, as the fad of the games wore off. Today there are laser tag arenas all over the world bearing various names and brands, as well as a large variety of consumer equipment for home play and professional grade equipment for outdoor laser tag arenas and businesses.[6]
In March 2009, upon theWinnenden school shooting, the German government announced that it would ban games such as laser tag andpaintball, claiming that they trivialize and encourage violence. It later retracted this assertion.[7]
In 2010, anews article appeared claiming that Lee Weinstein developed and opened the first commercial laser tag facility. In June 2011, the ILTA posted the results of a public record request from the City of Houston showing the opening date for Weinstein's "Star Laser Force" to have been 16 April 1985.[8]
Laser tag systems typically use infrared signaling to track firing of the beam. In indoor play, a visible light combined withtheatrical fog typically provide the visual effect of firing, while having no actual role in transmitting the fire signal. Despite the name, laser tag equipment does not firelasers, due to the potential dangers involved.[9] Some laser tag may use additional equipment to simulate control points,respawn boxes, portable med kits, landmines, grenade launchers andhand grenades.[10]
| Types of lasers | |
|---|---|
| Laser physics | |
| Laser optics | |
