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Laser Pong (my second laser projector videogame)

Brandon Thomas · 6.9K views · 2013-08-12 · 3:20

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Overview

Brandon Thomas demos Laser Pong, a game he built on a laser projector and projected onto buildings around Atlanta. It was a weekend project.

On Hacker News

Cited by HN as a fun example of a laser projector side project that later led to jobs and wealth for its author.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2013–2023

Topics

Creative coding & generative artGame programming & engines
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laser ponglaser projectorside projectpong

What people said

echelon · 2023-12 · Reference

I was planning to go into grad school for computational biology, but an early Square engineer saw me playing with the thing I'd built on the side of a Waffle House at 2 or 3 AM [1,2]. We exchanged numbers, and after six or so months of talking to me, they convinced me to join them instead. I got in early and had a really good exit. Completely changed the course of my life. My other passion (apart from biology) was film. I've made a lot of indie films over the last decade, but I always focused on film tech - volumetric video, mocap, etc. I'm currently building a startup in that space that started as one of my side projects. We're doing really well! Side projects have always led to inflection points in my life. They have more pull than anything else, and they lead me down interesting problem gradients. I'll get back to biology one day. I have some ideas there, too. [1] [LINK] [2] [VIDEO]

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echelon · 2020-10 · Reference

Boo! This is awful advice. I'm constantly commended on my side projects, and I excel at them because I enjoy them: - [VIDEO] - [LINK] - [LINK] - [LINK] The laser stuff made me wealthy, and that wasn't even my intention. People at the time told me it was a huge distraction from my academic career and a waste of time. My current side project is a real time voice converter (like Mission Impossible). Follow your passion. You'll deliver better results and open lots of doors. Your side projects will also usually be pretty novel. It's fertile ground for startup material.

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echelon · 2020-09 · Reference

If you're unlucky enough to have ADHD, literally everything except the task you have arbitrary hyper-focus on is an ugh field. Daily chores and maintenance like paying bills are ugh . Life is one big maze of ugh , and it's designed by people that don't get us. It feels inescapable and arbitrary. The only exit seems to be financial independence. I often really hate how we're expected to work in this framework. My hyperfocus is a super-power ( [LINK] , [VIDEO] , and a bunch of other awesome but non-monetizable projects). Too bad I can't get paid for it.

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Sources

Video by Brandon Thomas, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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