Photon
Founded By: George A. Carter III
Originated: 1984 (grand opening on March 28, 1984) Date Closed: 1989
Number of Locations: 46
Personnel of Note:
George Carter III – Founder
James L. Dooley – Technical Engineer
The First Facility: 12630 E. Northwest Highway, Suite 300, in Dallas, Texas.
Equipment Overview: Photon equipment included a helmet, phaser, control module and battery belt, collectively weighing about 13 pounds. The system utilized reverse infrared technology, so the signal was emitted from the helmet and the phaser was the receiver. The helmet included radio frequency receivers and lights which would indicate when a player had been “zapped”, meaning momentarily disrupted by an opponent’s tag for ten seconds. The red and green helmet lights flashed at different rates of speed, which allowed colorblind players to understand which color helmet had been zapped. The phaser could be used to score a tag by zapping another player or the opposing team’s base. Micro-processor chips allowed for the photon control module to report data to the central computer. The power pack contained the battery power for the Photon unit, known as a pod. The Photon equipment was produced under contract with the Maxtron Company, an electronics company hired to manufacturer the Photon circuit boards. The Maxtron Company was owned by Max Hargrove, who kindly provided a grand opening poster created by the Photon marketing department as well as a prototype pod holder to be included in the museum collection. The authenticity of the pod holder was confirmed by George Carter after seeing the prototype again for the first time after more than 25 years.
Historical Synopsis: While watching the movie Star Wars, George Carter was inspired by the well-known laser battle scene that depicted Luke, Princess Leia and Han Solo are running across the Death Star. The imagery of Storm Troopers shooting at them as they are returning fire back was what served as the initial inspiration for George Carter to develop Photon.
George Carter and James L. Dooley received a U.S. Patent #4,695,058 for the development of the Photon system. The immersive game experience included a digital soundtrack created by Ken Caillat, a Los Angles recording producer who is best known for producing albums for Fleetwood Mac.
“Photon – The Ultimate Game on Planet Earth”, as quoted directly from an official Photon fact sheet:
Customers, entering entering directly from parking lot sidewalks, find themselves in the lobby where passports are required by the Photon computers and tickets for play can be purchased. In the Photon staging area, players don their Photon equipment and wait their turns to enter the actual playing area. An “earth Port Observation Deck” overlooks approximately 10,000 square feet of playing area, featuring elaborate lighting and sound equipment, a heavily mazed network of tunnels, battlements, walkways, artificial fog machines and electronic sensors. Most walls and all floors in the Photon playing area are fully padded and carpeted for the players’ protection”.