https://graffitiresearchlab.com/blog/projects/laser-tag/#vid...

everything old is new again, and toys will be toys

• trial3

  today at 12:15 AM

  i’m so happy this is the top comment. i’m someone who found the GRL as… a middle schooler and boy was it the coolest thing i’ve ever seen at the time

  • echelon

    today at 2:10 AM

    I love this project!

    I saw this back in the day and it inspired me to build this:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x034jVB1avs

    I hacked together some game jam games with it:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd7A6TEthPQ

    Alexis Ohanian commented on my video, which was awesome:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF_OCvjq3ps

    I eventually built a laser drawing system too. I used a 532 nanometer optical filter taped to a webcam to isolate green laser pointer light, then drew a sampled approximation of the shapes. I recorded that somewhere, but never uploaded it...

    In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't get in trouble for this.

• ddellacosta

  yesterday at 8:37 PM

  Heh I was just about to say, people were doing stuff like this at Parsons/ITP a decade and a half ago, at least...haven't thought about GRL in a while, thanks for the flashback

• thunderbong

  today at 3:18 AM

  The video is referenced in the article as an inspiration.

• con

  today at 12:16 AM

  Thanks! This was absolutely the inspiration - and I've also mentioned it on the page (right under the video) and in the repository's Readme.

• amenghra

  yesterday at 9:22 PM

  This is even older (I think), similar idea of building interactive experiences using off-the-shelf lasers: https://web.archive.org/web/20040202205307/http://www.monzy....

• mapkkk

  yesterday at 8:39 PM

  This is what I immediately thought of as well, I'm just grateful you remembered the name of the project.

  An absolute blast from the past, thank you for unlocking the memories of me reading these cool projects way back when!

• sleepybrett

  yesterday at 10:10 PM

  kids don't think we have memories.

Hi HN and สวัสดีครับ! I remember seeing this the first time in Vienna by a friend of mine, Michi who came back from NYC and I believe he learned about it at the local hacker space at the time: NYC resistor.

I knew Michi through the Metalab, our hacker space in Vienna. Originally the idea seems to have been from the Graffiti Research Lab, which is also what I've linked to on my page and in the repo's Readme.

I think the version that Michi used was a MacOS app (not sure which framework), but I've always wanted to make it a web app. So all you need now is a projector, a laser pointer, and a laptop (with a camera).

I've already tried a few fun setups (eg using the iPhone's camera or using AirPlay connected to the projector). It's quite flexible.

Let me know if you end up using it and please share videos / photos and I'd be happy to put them up.

I know the original is old-skool cool, which I think makes this a fun project.

I'll try to set it up at the next CCC (2027) - if you see me there, come say Hi (I'll probably be in a banana costume).

Reminds me of messing with old laser pointers as a kid, but way more sophisticated. Love seeing creative uses of tech.

Very cool. I remember seeing a video of some people doing this on a whole building… found it: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DKbtTPYZEig&t=30s

• ddellacosta

  yesterday at 8:38 PM

  same crew as is referenced here too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49513717

While this is interesting, what I really wanted to see was more 'graffiti' and less 'laser'.

Graffiti, fundamentally, is a defacement of public property as a form of artistic self expression. To that end, why not combine this with a laser engraver instead of a laser pointer?

Imagine hooking this up and then literally carving your graffiti into the side of a brick building. Or burning it into the paint on a metal container car.

Obviously such a thing has the potential for serious bodily harm and could start building or wild fires inadvertently, to say nothing of the energy consumption requirements such a laser engraver would necessitate.

Counterpoint: rule of cool.

• grufkork

  yesterday at 7:29 PM

  You’ll probably burn your retinas with the backscatter

• trashcan_man

  yesterday at 11:50 PM

  "Can you tell the jury what you told investigators when you decided to use computerized directed energy weapons to target civllian infrastructure?"

  "...rule of cool?"

• brianpan

  yesterday at 9:27 PM

  Defacement is not the point of graffiti. It's fundamentally visual, not fundamentally destructive.

  • clickety_clack

    yesterday at 9:33 PM

    Ask the people who have to clean it off.

Not drawing (yet), about to arrive, but I built a whole projected arcade system on the same vibe, but way before vibecoding… :)

https://s-argame.com

This is really cool! I wonder if for the drip on neon you could make it start from the bottom of the line to make it a little smoother. And maybe you could try making it translucent for the marker so it matches the marker ink.

These green laser pointers are bright enough to cause eye damage from the reflection off surfaces, for humans and pets.

So cool! I can see its application in presentation. Does this support more than 1 laser btw?

• con

  last Sunday at 1:46 PM

  I haven't tried, but it should be possible to do so pretty easily.

very cool, I can imagine use-cases like a friends evening playing at home with the projector or even school doing didactic.

love the whole simplicity and the style too.

Consti, this could do well on IG and TikTok.

Love the take on AI

• con

  last Saturday at 1:25 PM

  Thanks! I'm not much of a social media person (went so far that I made an Apple shortcut app to launch IG in the messages screen[0], so I can avoid the feed). But maybe I'll try to post something there.

  [0] just open the URL instagram://direct-inbox

Looks cool!

Cool project

"Tanning invitation"

/Ob Real Genius

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