A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games.
Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target(s) emit light rather than the gun. The first device of this type, the light pen, was used on the MIT Whirlwind computer.
The light gun and its ancestor, the light pen, are now rarely used as pointing devices due largely to the popularity of the mouse and changes in monitor display technology—conventional light guns only work with CRT monitors.
Read more about Light Gun: Early History, Use in Video Games, Design, Positional Guns, Light Gun Models
Famous quotes containing the words light and/or gun:
“And taken by light in her arms at long and dear last
I may without fail
Suffer the first vision that set fire to the stars.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“Resorts advertised for waitresses, specifying that they “must appear in short clothes or no engagement.” Below a Gospel Guide column headed, “Where our Local Divines Will Hang Out Tomorrow,” was an account of spirited gun play at the Bon Ton. In Jeff Winney’s California Concert Hall, patrons “bucked the tiger” under the watchful eye of Kitty Crawhurst, popular “lady” gambler.”
—Administration in the State of Colo, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)