10 replies to this topic

[AdamC]

Hello Nerf Warriors,

My name is Adam and I invented a wearable sensor that keeps score electronically while you battle for foam glory. Its pretty sweet actually. If you jam a small rare earth magnet into the tips of the blaster darts, the sensor can pick them up and keep track of your "damage". The game is called MagneTag ("like laser tag, but with magnets"), and I put it up on Kickstarter a few days ago. I am a huge Nerf fan, so I started this project to make the experience even better. My favorite gun is the CS-18, but I am just blown away by the new Rival series. I have already found a way to magnetize the spherical projectiles. Sorry if you think this is spam, but I am just trying to get people to check out a project that I have poured thousands of hours of my free time into. I am incredibly passionate about it and I made for people like you to enjoy.

Thanks for taking a minute to see what I made. I would really appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism.

Check out MagneTag here.

Sincerely,

Adam Cohen.

[The2ndBluesBro]

I'm sure you've already thought of this, but wouldn't most stock dart shooting blasters have trouble with the magnetized darts (significantly heavier)? Also, while this is cool, you should try putting the magnet in the sensor so it would work with stefans.

[Snoop Doggy doge]

Cost would drive most of us away, and that it's only chest. In the Northeast at least, anything you do that stops dart movement counts as a hit (i.e. hits your blaster, loose article of clothing etc.) I'm still interested in how do you hide a chip in a dart? We have a lot of darts (I bring average 300 to a war) so how do we keep track? And what happens when we lose them?

[AdamC]

The magnets I put in the darts are small. About 3mm x 1mm disks. They weight about 2 grams, probably add about 20% to the weight of the dart. I find that my darts fly pretty well after the modification. I can't tell the difference.

'The2ndBluesBro', on 11 Aug 2015 - 6:08 PM, said:

I'm sure you've already thought of this, but wouldn't most stock dart shooting blasters have trouble with the magnetized darts (significantly heavier)? Also, while this is cool, you should try putting the magnet in the sensor so it would work with stefans.

[shandsgator8]

'Snoop Doggy doge', on 11 Aug 2015 - 6:58 PM, said:

Cost would drive most of us away, and that it's only chest. In the Northeast at least, anything you do that stops dart movement counts as a hit (i.e. hits your blaster, loose article of clothing etc.) I'm still interested in how do you hide a chip in a dart? We have a lot of darts (I bring average 300 to a war) so how do we keep track? And what happens when we lose them?

I'm guessing these magnets won't be used in NIC-style darts.

[AdamC]

The sensor covers a large section of the chest and back. The limited coverage would make the game more challenging, I don't know if people would respond well to that or not. There is no chip in the dart. You have to put a small magnet in the tip (there is already a hole in stock darts). The sensor picks up the magnet and records the hit electronically.

It would cost about $0.10 per dart to modify, so modding 300 darts would be about $30 bucks. Worth it in my opinion.

'Snoop Doggy doge', on 11 Aug 2015 - 6:58 PM, said:

Cost would drive most of us away, and that it's only chest. In the Northeast at least, anything you do that stops dart movement counts as a hit (i.e. hits your blaster, loose article of clothing etc.) I'm still interested in how do you hide a chip in a dart? We have a lot of darts (I bring average 300 to a war) so how do we keep track? And what happens when we lose them?

[shmmee]

It would create some really cool game type options. Like placing the sensors in a core to defend. I'm betting the magnets could also be used as a replacement weight for washers in a slug, although the felt tip with the magnet underneath would create a safety hazard. just imagine if the magnet enticed a sharp bit of metal to stick to the tip and the dart was fired. Not so good. Metallic hitchhikers would be easier to spot on a stock silicone dart tip though.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

'shmmee', on 19 Aug 2015 - 1:38 PM, said:

It would create some really cool game type options.

I like where this is going. I can see a sort of Death Star game where one team is on offense with a dedicated Luke Skywalker who has the magno-sensor darts and has to maneuver in and hit a specific target.

Actually you could do this with out the chips I suppose, but I like the deliberate and definitive nature of the magno-chip system here.

[AdamC]

Indeed. With the Bluetooth smartphone link, you can have many interesting ways to interact with the environment such as proximity beacons, or grenades, or even something like special powers like a team medic.

'shmmee', on 19 Aug 2015 - 1:38 PM, said:

It would create some really cool game type options. Like placing the sensors in a core to defend. I'm betting the magnets could also be used as a replacement weight for washers in a slug, although the felt tip with the magnet underneath would create a safety hazard. just imagine if the magnet enticed a sharp bit of metal to stick to the tip and the dart was fired. Not so good. Metallic hitchhikers would be easier to spot on a stock silicone dart tip though.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

'AdamC', on 19 Aug 2015 - 3:58 PM, said:

proximity beacons

Would it be possible to use them to set up zones so if a person with a magno-chip stood in the designated zone it could log the time? Follow up question is would it be possible to have three teams, each with their own chips recording the time they spent in different teams zones? I'm getting at a king-of-the-hill/capture-the-territories type game with the objective being teams competing for who can spend the most time in their opponents territory.

[nine]

This looks like a pretty good idea actually! I'm not sure how familiar you are with the dart making precess followed by most NIC members, but the vast majority of nerfers make their own darts with foam backer rod and #6 washers as outlined in Ryan's dartmaking guide. If there was a way to produce magnetic washers of a similar size for a reasonable price (most people can make darts for around $0.06 a piece) then I think you will see far more people using your product.

Again, this looks like a great way to involve more people in the hobby and I hope that it goes a long way. Just make sure not to let these grumps cramp your style