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Could Lasers Solve Our Gaming Measurement Problems?
September 25, 2013 by dracs
We've all been there. We try to get in close to our miniatures with our tape measures and suddenly our finely painted master pieces are scattered everywhere by our clumsy hands. Well a solution has appeared on our forums, one which involves Warren's second favourite thing in the whole world. Lasers!
The LightRanger is a new idea which is currently in the early prototype stages. The idea is that lasers are used to mark out two points on the table, in much the same way as we would use a normal tape measure. The difference is that the lasers mean we don't have to get down close to the models where we inevitably knock stuff over. It's a simple idea and one which I am surprised we haven't really seen so far.
At the moment the LightRanger is still in the initial prototype stages and its creator Brad is currently finding out the level of interest and gathering feedback and may be attending Fall-In 2013 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania this November to show off the prototype. According to Brad he will be deciding whether or not to go forwards with this in the next 6 months.
If you want to throw in your two cents be sure to drop a comment below, or you can head over to the original Beasts of War Forum post here.
The big plan :
1) Get lasers (possibly sharks)
2) ???
3) Profit !
Funniest thing I’ve read this week. =)
Instead of reading of the tape measure, it would be better to keep the strip blank and incorporate a meter into the body. Other than that, I think it’s a novel approach.
I’d love to measure with a frickin’ laser.
Not a bad idea… It would stop the stupid argumentations about your tape being over the middle of the base or not while stretching over the table…
seems like a good idea, the prototype is sure intriguing.
In theory this is sound, but it relies on the user holding the measure parallel to the board. So as it currently stands it just changes what the argument is e.g. you’re not holding it parallel enough and so are making the 6 inches more like 6.5.
They should add a bubble level, then… or possibly a laser projecting a shape that gets distorted if the thing isn’t parallel to the terrain (which would be better if trying to measure distances over complex hilly terrain). Interesting problem !
Ideally what you want is the electronic version of what the Dambusters did. So given two laser beams, set at an angle to each other so they hit the two models, and a reflector placed directly between the two models, the device can then fire a IR beam to determine the distance from the device to the board/marker. Given that distance and the angle between the beams, you have the distance. Trivial trigonometry.
Triangulation
GPS Signaling
Radar
Oh bugger it, let’s just play the video game version lol
You wouldn’t need GPS. And devices that do what I suggested exist. It’s more a case of designing them for a more compact form factor and for wargaming, and having an accuracy correct for that scale, rather than what they are used for right now (home building, engineering).
Really what it all boils down to is this;
Are you and your opponents so snippy and overly competitive that you need a precision device, that will be more accurate than a tape measure. If the answer is yes then you are more than likely the people I don’t want to game with.
I forgot to add the tongue in cheek detector to the list 😉
I wonder if we will have to use ‘thermal cameras’ to check if bases clip in warmachine and hordes?
‘Ohhhhh…. lets go to the thermal. Yep that’s red and that’s a clip. Failed charge.’
‘Yes Jim, that is indeed a miss. And a shame, as we haven’t seen Paul clip like that since the 2014 tournament. It’s a long walk back to the other side of the table. And look at that mournful look on his face.’
like romain said a level could sort this tho i’d use an electronic one when the measurement is level have a green light show if its off the level no light problem solved.
You just need one of these made for wargaming http://www.stanleytools.com/xhtml/laser-distance-measurer.html
Imagine it has a tripod so it stands at the side of the table, and then you fire it at the two points. Job done.
Careful! You could have someone’s eye out!
You mean that isn’t the aim? Oh, I’ve been doing it wrong all these years!
I would say that it was your “aim” lol
I love it!!! I go with it.
If it looked like a lasgun I’d buy it.
“Noooo is gonna melt my finecast’s models!” Wait for that one. I propose mini version of that distance analizer servo skull to be upgraded with the new imperial sanctioned tech, it should tell distance with clear and clicking voice.
Neat idea, but how do you keep the tape from being twisted? Five inches above the table even a minor twist will gain you an inch on the ground… plus it needs to be held level.
Yes, it will help judging those close calls, but don’t think you can measure distances from halfway across the table with this. You need to keep the device pretty close to the table to minimize errors.
The problem with this is that in order to get an accurate reading from a tape you need to pull the body well further than the distance your measuring. You can see this in the demonstration where he struggles to see what is 6 inches. When i was an apprentice i was taught to always measure from the 1 inch mark as the first inch can be out as well, although i’d probably put my minis away if i saw someone doing this during a game.
Why do people take measuring so seriously – male insecurity? I’m quite generous myself, if someone’s out by a few mm who am I to quibble?
This said it looks good once the dots hit the board…now only if we could have a laser display that says the exact amount measured on the board to the nearest 100th of a mm – tournaments would go mad “Sorry, you can’t charge you’re out by 0.01mm…” “Not AGAIN!”
In short cool, but a little pointless for me – A+ on effort though 🙂
“I’m quite generous myself”
Me too 😉 and it’s even more impressive when I’ve strapped a laser to it!
Thank you for that image Warren, now I need alcohol
That’s alright Sam, Warren needs Viagra
Okay grabbing coat on way out Warren.
But before I go, I think @Warspawned has won the thread
I agree with Warspawned. I feel that if you are ‘generous’ you’ll receive it back more often than not.
Don’t forget to use Hawkeye for LOS
Altogether now
ooooooooOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH OOOH! just misses!
I’m a firm believer in the fact that lasers can solve everything. War? Lasers. World hunger? Lasers. Global warming? Lasers. B|
Also no, the “firm believer” thing is completely unrelated to Warspawned’s comment or Warren needing viagra…