Object Details
patent holder
Baer, Ralph H.
inventor
Baer, Ralph H.
Description
This strange-looking contraption was actually used to play an early video game.
To play the golf game on the “Brown Box,” a prototype for the first multiplayer, multiprogram video game system, Baer and his colleagues mounted a golf ball on a joystick handle. This allowed the player to use a real golf club to practice his or her putting skills. Magnavox licensed the "Brown Box" and released the system as the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. Though it was never produced commercially, the golf accessory was covered with brown wood-grain, self-adhesive vinyl so that it would match the "Brown Box."
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Ralph H. Baer
Date made
1968
ID Number
2006.0102.11
accession number
2006.0102
catalog number
2006.0102.11
Object Name
game accessory
Physical Description
aluminum (overall material)
paper (overall material)
vinyl (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 6 in x 10 1/4 in x 4 1/2 in; 15.24 cm x 26.035 cm x 11.43 cm
Related Publication
Baer, Ralph H.. Videogames: In The Beginning
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Computers
Popular Entertainment
Baer
Family & Social Life
Computers & Business Machines
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1302398