science

Laser tag

Laser tag is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Laser tag rather than just read about it. In short: Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag 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.

Key takeaways

Laser tag belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Laser tag to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Laser tag from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag 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. 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.

History Since its birth in 1979, laser tag has involved both indoor and outdoor styles of play, including simulations of close quarter combat, role play-style adventure games, or competitive sporting events including tactical configurations and precise game goals. In late 1970s and early 1980s, the United States Army deployed a system using lasers for combat training. This MILES system functioned like laser tag in that beams are "fired" into receivers that score hits. The first known toy to use infrared light and a corresponding sensor was manufactured and marketed in 1979 as the Star Trek Electronic Phaser Guns set to accompany the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

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. Carter was honored by the International Laser Tag Association on 17 November 2005 for his contribution to the laser tag industry. The award is engraved "Presented to George A. Carter III in recognition for being the Inventor and Founder of the laser tag industry". In 1986, the first Photon toys were sold, nearly simultaneously with the Lazer Tag toys from Worlds of Wonder and several other similar infrared and visible light-based toys. Worlds of Wonder went out of business around 1988, and Photon 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. In March 2009, upon the Winnenden school shooting, the German government announced that it would ban games such as laser tag and paintball, claiming that they trivialize and encourage violence. It later retracted this assertion.

Equipment and technology

Laser tag systems typically use infrared signaling to track firing of the beam. In indoor play, a visible light combined with theatrical 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 fire lasers, due to the potential dangers involved. Some laser tag may use additional equipment to simulate control points, respawn boxes, portable med kits, landmines, grenade launchers and hand grenades.

See also Airsoft Gel blaster Nerf Paintball

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Laser tag

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Laser tag claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Laser tag before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Laser tag ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Laser tag

In research: Laser tag appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Laser tag in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Laser tag is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1970s fads and trends, Laser applications, Laser tag, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Laser tag outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Laser tag in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Laser tag means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Laser tag out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Laser tag in simple terms?

Why does Laser tag matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Laser tag?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Laser tag.