THOTCON 0xC Badge
Laser tag for a whole conference
The theme was Contra, so the badge is a laser tag game the whole conference plays, in a molded plastic shell shaped like the target at the end of the first stage.
Specs
- Event
- THOTCON 0xC, Chicago, May 19–20, 2023
- Made
- About 2,000 badges
- Game
- Laser tag, played across the conference
- Hardware
- Infrared receiver in the center, emitters on the left and right
- Lens
- Total-internal-reflection lens molded into the shell
- Shell
- Injection-molded clear polycarbonate, made with Xometry
The idea
The badge team came out of the first planning call wanting a badge people played with each other. The conference theme was Contra, the NES game, so the badge became laser tag. One of the organizers sketched the target from the end of Contra's first stage, and that became the shape.
The shell
This was the first badge in the line with a custom plastic housing. Rob Rehrig designed it, and he writes that the lens took most of his time. The emitter and receiver are separate parts so each could have its own lens. He ended up adapting a total-internal-reflection lens, which focuses the beam so a shot lands where you aim it from across a room.
The plan was two molded parts, one opaque and one clear. Molding was going to take 9 to 10 weeks, which put delivery after the conference. So the two parts became one clear piece with the board's color showing through.
Who made it
- Housing and lens design: Rob Rehrig.
- Electronics and firmware: the THOTCON badge team.
Original write-ups and code
- THOTCON 0xC Electronic Conference Badge by Rob Rehrig