What is Laser Tag?

Brief Laser Tag History - And I Do Mean Brief

Laser tag has been around for about three decades in the form of indoor arenas.  This is how most people are familiar with laser tag. And although consumer-grade laser tag toys have sporadically been around since the mid-1980s with the introduction of the Worlds of Wonder laser tag Photon guns, the business of outdoor laser tag using commercial-grade equipment got its start in Australia when Battlefield Sports introduced their line of outdoor laser tag guns a little over two decades ago.

When I started my mobile outdoor laser tag company in 2003, the two main questions I got were, "How can you play laser tag in the daytime? Don't you have to wait until it gets dark?" and "So, can you see the laser in the sunlight?". The key to answering these questions is understanding what laser tag is and isn't.

Laser Tag is Not What You May Think

Let's start with what laser tag isn't. Laser tag isn't directly associated with what most of us think of when we think of a laser. It's not that super energized "beam" of light that we saw shoot out of a Jedi's X-Wing Fighter that ultimately destroyed the evil Death Star. In reality, you can't see a "beam" of light in the vast vacuum we call outer space. You'd need particles for the light to bounce off of to see the "beam," but that's beyond the scope of this discussion. We'll sum up the deadly laser "beams" and the awesome explosions to movie magic. Nor is it that pocket laser pointer we've carried around on our key chains for no other reason than to drive the family cat crazy.  In fact, the laser tag laser is not a laser at all.

LASER

LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation.  Not directly useful in laser tag. There's no "signal" coming from a laser pointer.  So what is laser tag? Laser tag could be called infrared tag. It is a variation of a simple combination of an infrared LED emitter that sends out a signal and a sensor (or receiver) that picks up the signal. It's a system similar to how your television's remote control interacts with your television. And that's basically it. Mystery solved! It's just that infrared tag doesn't sound as cool as LASER TAG! (Especially when you put it in all caps and add an exclamation point). But wait a minute. How come we see lasers when playing in indoor arenas?  What are they used for?

Lasers, or laser pointers, are used primarily for show and secondarily for aiming. Remember when I stated that you can't see a beam of light without particles to bounce off?  Well, that's why indoor arenas use fog. Fog is an excellent gaseous particle that reveals the laser beam light when the light bounces off of it.

In our outdoor laser tag business, we also use laser pointers on our guns at night. More so for the aiming capabilities at long distances than for the "beam" effects.  Unless, of course, it happens to be a foggy night.  What?!

Laser Tag Man