About Us

Why do we play and enjoy laser tag?

Well, we offer this theory. Humans traditionally needed to hunt in order to live. In moden society this is largely not needed, but the instincts still exist. Modern day people have several outlets for this:
• Gun target shooting
• Gun hunting
• Archery
• Bow hunting
• Air rifle target shooting
• Sling shot
• Paintball
• Airsoft

At Steradian we have another offering, Laser Tag. Steradian laser tag is unique in this list of shooting sports, because it is completely harmless! People can enjoy the thrill of the hunt, in a completely harmless way!

History of our Company

Tom Baker and Alex Moon met as children, and later became fast friends when they discovered a shared interested in technology, and more specifically, laser tag. They have been truly addicted since 1995, when a friend introduced them to a local laser tag group. While they had a lot of fun, they noticed a tremendous lack of good equipment. Of course, they just had to build some of their own, but even bigger and better! With the help of a few group players, Tom and Alex quickly learned the specifics of a laser tag system.

Alex had the background in programming, and Tom had the background in electronics. They quickly set aside the excessively complex and inefficient discrete logic circuits, and started a design which used a microcontroller (a simple computer-on-a-chip). This combined the best of Alex's programming talents and Tom's electronics knowledge - how perfect is that?

The designs quickly got better, smaller, more capable. Every weekend they'd go out and play with the local laser tag group, testing out every new invention. The gun designs were good, but they soon realized there was a real lack of a good quality sensor which worked well in full sunlight. Surely it couldn't be that hard to make? We started investigating, and Tom made it his full-time passion.

Fast-forward two years to 1999. Harried, bruised, and battered, Tom crawls out of his workshop and collapses at Alex's feet, a box in his hand. The Pro220. It was large, bulky, and ugly. But it worked, and in sunlight...Sunplay was born!

Not to be outdone, Alex worked out a system of transmitting data over Sunplay...now Sunscore was born! This long-desired technology allowed for score keeping, gun power levels and team play.

In late 1999 and early 2000, Tom and Alex developed the Pro240. This had the same functionality as the Pro220, but was spread out for better weight distribution, and had the photo-receptors mounted in a baseball cap, providing 360 degree reception.

This design was used until late 2001, when we met Peter Montgomery at Tagcon Midwest. He wanted a system that had the whole sensor in a army helmet, wired to a gun which could prevent self-inflicted hits. Knowing no fear, we took this on. After many, many challenges and a complete re-design of our circuits, the Piranha was born. Peter took delivery of 12 units on September 15, 2002.

Towards the end of Peter Montgomery's order, Steradian hired a fellow player and good friend Kevin McDonald. He has helped us in the transition from a pure R&D company to a company which could actually build and ship useful quantities of gear. Early fall, 2002, Steradian hired Aaron Spalding. Aaron is a musician and instrument maker, who brings good craftsmanship and an infectious enthusiasm to the company.

Steradian Technologies became Steradian Technologies, LLC on Feb. 13, 2003.

After filling many orders and continually upgrading the product line, Steradian outgrew its original building. In June of 2004, Steradian moved its production facilities to a new, larger building. In late 2004 Steradian moved again to a yet a larger building still, with great success.

About our Name

A steradian is a unit of solid angular measure. For a great visual representation, check out this site.

Infrared LED's typically measure their power output in milliwatts per steradian. The name seemed unique and appropriate; the rest is history.