Laser laser devices. The question of just how to assign credit for inventing the laser remains unresolved by historians. On May 16, 1960, Theodore H. Maiman operated the first functioning laser at Hughes Research Laboratories, Malibu, California, ahead of several research teams, including those of Townes, at Columbia University, Arthur Schawlow, at Bell Labs, and Gould, at the TRG (Technical Research Group) company. Maiman's functional laser used a solid-state flashlamp-pumped synthetic ruby crystal to produce red laser light, at 694 nanometers wavelength; however, the device only was capable of pulsed operation, because of its three-level pumping design scheme. Later that year,
Laser tag range of ages. When compared to paintball, laser tag is painless because it uses no physical projectiles, and indoor versions may be considered less physically demanding because most indoor venues prohibit running or roughhousing. In late 1970s and early '80s, the United States Army deployed a system using infrared beams for combat training. The MILES system functions like laser tag in that beams are "fired" into receivers that score hits. Similar systems are now manufactured by several companies and used by various armed forces around the world. The first known toy to use infrared light and a corresponding sensor was