Who hasn't grabbed a stick and pretended it was a sword at one point in their lives? Now, with a bit of help from technology, Sabertron swords are helping everyone live out that sword-fighting fantasy, but with some actual score-keeping.
With Sabertron, children (and adults) can have moderately safe foam sword fights, and actually have a gauge as to which person wins. The system ignores sword-on-sword contact, but removes life points when it detects contact with other objects, namely the person at which a user is swinging their sword.
The devices work through accelerometers that detect movement, and a sudden lack thereof when the sword makes contact with an object. Wireless communication between the swords lets them know when they have made contact with one another.
Player health is indicated through lights on the sword. Each successful offensive attack removes a line from the opposing player's health until eventually someone runs out completely, leaving the other player standing victorious over their fallen friend. LevelUp, the company that is developing Sabertron, promises to enhance the battle with realistic sound effects when the swords meet each other.
Multiple game modes are supported by the devices, which should help expand upon the kind of fun that can be had. Modes included sound pretty fun and include things such as one shot kills, a seemingly never-ending mode with faster health regeneration, and even a mode where the strength of the impact determines the amount of health loss.
The swords will be available in two styles; a lightsaber-like design and more traditional medieval look – so whether players prefer to act out Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, Sabertron will have them covered.
For the time being, this is offered as a two-player system, but later in the year the team plans to make it available for larger battles (think live-action role playing). This will be accomplished with a device each player wears on their chest that keeps track of life loss due to hits from multiple swords. The team also plans to roll out armor, helmets, and other products for LARPers.
LevelUp is seeking funding on Kickstarter to bring its Sabertron swords to market. It's still a ways away from its lofty US$195,000 goal, but its funding period is still in the early stages. Backers interested in receiving a pair of swords can still get in on the early bird special for $99. Once those run out, the price goes up to $125.
The pitch video below provides more information and shows the swords in action.
Sources: Sabertron, Kickstarter via SlashGear
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Just thought I would post some comments to all the publications that hyped up Sabertron in the beginning.
While I am sure it was wonderful to see such a great project on Kickstarter and to give it some great press coverage, this Kickstarter is currently a failure. Many, many prototypes were created and yes, Sabertron is currently a finished product. Or that is what the project creator has reported. But 2 1/2 years after the Kickstarter was funded, zero rewards have been fullfilled.
My view is that Sabertron fell into the "feature creep" technical abyss. The abyss for all those projects that decided an even better product could be made without defining some sort of scope so that the project actually gets completed.
But due to a “feature creep”, all the Kickstarter funding (and supposedly more) was spent on development. Leaving the ability to actually manufacture Sabertron stuck down in the abyss. And this leaving all of the Kickstarter backers without anything to show for their investment in a cool concept.
While there are still some optimistic backers, a majority of backers of Sabertron have given up that swords will ever be manufactured. While Kickstarter backers do understand risks and that Kickstarter is “not a store”, backers do expect transparency for projects. Many of us backers believe Sabertron has not been as forthcoming as represented in updates. With a project this far behind and likely unable to be completed, Sabertron owes its backers closure. And publications can help.
I believe that it is the responsibility of publications that hype projects to keep track of those projects. Hyping a project generates great interest and investment but that also puts some responsibility on those publications. Creating a project buzz, but not following the story to the end, can lead to a perception that all Kickstarter projects become reality. And this can create distrust that the next hyped project is going to be awesome. Publications should help keep projects accountable so that all projects receive the same level of trust.