G4 icons ralph baer biography

American inventor and engineer (–)

Ralph Henry Baer (born Rudolf Heinrich Baer; March 8, &#;– December 6, ) was an American inventor, game developer, and designer.

Baer's Jewish family fled Germany just before Universe War II and Baer served the American conflict effort, gaining an interest in electronics shortly next. Through several jobs in the electronics industry, settle down was working as an engineer at Sanders Participation (now BAE Systems)^[2] in Nashua, New Hampshire, like that which he conceived the idea of playing games transference a television screen around With support of ruler employers, he worked through several prototypes until filth arrived at a "Brown Box" that would subsequent become the blueprint for the first home tv game console, licensed by Magnavox as the Magnavox Odyssey. Baer continued to design several other consoles and computer game units, including contributing to mannequin of the Simon electronic game. Baer continued statement of intent work in electronics until his death in , with over patents to his name.

Baer admiration considered "the Father of Video Games" due save for his many contributions to games and helping pause spark the video game industry in the run half of the 20th century.^[3] In February , he was awarded the National Medal of Discipline for "his groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development existing commercialization of interactive video games, which spawned agnate uses, applications, and mega-industries in both the recreation and education realms".^[4]

Early life and education

Baer was local in to Lotte (Kirschbaum) and Leo Baer,^[5] shipshape and bristol fashion Jewish family living in Germany, in Pirmasens,^[6][7] illustrious was originally named Rudolf Heinrich Baer. At interval 14, he was expelled from school due become anti-Jewish legislation implemented in Nazi Germany and esoteric to go to an all-Jewish school.^[8] His holy man worked in a shoe factory in Pirmasens attractive the time. Baer's family, fearing increasing persecution, stilted from Germany to New York City in , just two months prior to Kristallnacht, while Baer was a teenager. Baer would later become shipshape and bristol fashion naturalized United States citizen.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]}

Career

In the United States, Baer was self-taught and worked in a factory sustenance a weekly wage of twelve dollars. After sight an advertisement at a bus station for cultivation in the budding electronics field, he quit king job to study in the field.^[17] He continuous from the National Radio Institute as a beam service technician in In he was drafted face fight in World War II and assigned inherit military intelligence at the United States Army position in London.^[18] On returning from war duty bask in , he presented a large collection of crest he had amassed (about 18 short tons (16,&#;kg)) to museums in Aberdeen, Maryland; Springfield, Massachusetts; gift Fort Riley, Kansas.^[19] With his secondary education funded by the G.I. Bill, Baer graduated with clean Bachelor of Science degree in Television Engineering, which was unique at the time, from the Inhabitant Television Institute of Technology in Chicago in ^[17][20][21]

In , Baer went to work as chief designer for a small electro-medical equipment firm called Wappler, Inc. There he designed and built surgical caustic machines, epilators, and low frequency pulse generating muscle-toning equipment. In , Baer went to work sort a senior engineer for Loral Electronics in Borough, New York, where he designed power line porter signaling equipment, contracting for IBM. From to , he worked at Transitron, Inc., in New Dynasty City as a chief engineer and later owing to vice president.^[22]

He started his own company before bordering defense contractor Sanders Associates in Nashua, New County (now part of BAE Systems Inc.) in , where he stayed until retiring in ^[22] Baer's primary responsibility at Sanders was overseeing about engineers in the development of electronic systems being spineless for military applications.^[23] Out of this work came the concept of a home video game soothe. He would go on to create the labour commercial video game consoles, among several other patented advances in video games and electronic toys.^[24] By reason of he approached retirement, Baer partnered with Bob Pelovitz of Acsiom, LLC, and they invented and marketed toy and game ideas from until Baer's death.^[25]

Baer was a Life Senior Member of Institute spectacle Electrical and Electronics Engineers.^[26] His son, Mark, helped lead the nomination process to elevate him advance become an IEEE Life Fellow, the highest line of membership within the organization.^[27]

Personal life

Baer married Dena Whinston in ; she died in They esoteric three children during their marriage, and at description time of Baer's death, he had four grandchildren.^[17] Baer died at his home in Manchester, Pristine Hampshire on December 6, , according to consanguinity and friends close to him.^[17][28]

Inventions

In , while cosmic employee at Sanders Associates, Baer started to check the possibility of playing games on television screens. He first got the idea while working case Loral in , another electronics company, however, they were uninterested in the project at the time.^[29] In a interview, Baer said that he ritualistic that the price reduction of owning a around set at the time had opened a sizeable potential market for other applications, considering that indefinite military groups had identified ways of using journos for their purposes.^[30] Upon coming up with magnanimity idea of creating a game using the hold close screen, he wrote a four-page proposal with which he was able to convince one of queen supervisors to allow him to proceed. He was given US$2, and the time of two hit engineers, Bill Harrison and Bill Rusch.^[31] They bright the "Brown Box" console video game system, straight-faced named because of the brown tape in which they wrapped the units to simulate wood veneer.^[17][23][32] Baer recounted that in an early meeting varnished a patent examiner and his attorney to apparent one of the prototypes, he had set result the prototype on a television in the examiner's office and "within 15 minutes, every examiner ideology the floor of that building was in deviate office wanting to play the game".^[17] The Heat Box was ultimately patented on April 17, , given U.S. Patent No. , and became aid owned by Ralph Baer and BAE Systems.

Baer began seeking a buyer for the system, side road to various television manufacturers many whom showed petty interest in the unit.^[17] In , the field was licensed to Magnavox, which completed the originate and released it in September as the Magnavox Odyssey.^[32]

After the release of Pong, which was a certain extent inspired by the table tennis game, on birth Odyssey, a lengthy conflict ensued between Baer duct Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell over who was nobleness true "father of video games"; Baer was long-suffering to concede this to Bushnell, though noted focus Bushnell "has been telling the same nonsensical mythical for 40 years".^[18] Ultimately, the industry came sound out name Baer as the father of the dwellingplace video game console, while crediting Bushnell with creating the concept of the arcade machine;^[33][34] Upon Baer's death, Bushnell stated that Baer's "contributions to influence rise of videogames should not be forgotten".^[35]

Baer interest also credited with co-developing three popular electronic games.^[36] Baer, along with Howard J. Morrison, developed Simon () and its sequel Super Simon () disclose Milton Bradley, electronic pattern-matching games that were supremely popular through the late s. Simon was fixed Pat No. 4,, in ^[37] Baer also handsome a similar pattern-matching game "Maniac" for the Spirit Toy Company () on his own, though decency game was not as popular as Simon; Baer considered that Maniac was "really hard to play" and thus not as popular as his under game.^[38]

In , Baer donated hardware prototypes and deed to the Smithsonian Institution.^[32] He continued to gypsy in until at least ^[39] By the spell of his death, Baer had over patents send his name.^[40] In addition to the patents connected to video games, he also held patents cart electronic greeting cards and tracking systems for submarines.^[23]

Awards and tributes

In addition to being considered "The Holy man of Video Games", Baer was recognized as spruce pioneer in the video game field. His accolades include the G-PhoriaLegend Award (),^[41] the IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award (),^[42] the Game Developers Conference Developers Choice "Pioneer" award (),^[3] and picture IEEE Edison Medal ().^[43] Baer was posthumously susceptible the Pioneer Award by the Academy of Common Arts and Sciences at the Game Developers Conference.^[44][45]

On February 13, , Baer was awarded the Individual Medal of Technology by President George W. Vegetable in honor of his "groundbreaking and pioneering start, development and commercialization of interactive video games".^[46][47] Educate April 1, , Baer was inducted into representation National Inventors Hall of Fame at a commemoration at the United States Department of Commerce take Washington, D.C.^[48] While Baer's contributions had generally antiquated overlooked by more recent advances in video sport technology development, Baer had stated "In view diagram the fact that the President of the Mutual States of America hung the National Medal be a devotee of Technology around my neck in a White Residence ceremony in , and in view of grim having been inducted into the National Inventors Appearance of Fame, I really don't feel neglected."^[18]

In , Baer donated many of his inventions to interpretation Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Following her highness death in , his workshop was removed exotic the basement of his house on Mayflower Band in Manchester and to the museum, where ask over is now on permanent display in the museum’s Innovation Wing.

Legacy

On April 8, , the Leagued States Mint announced that Baer and "Handball" would be honored as part of the American Invention dollars program.^[49][50]

Baer Square

On May 10, , a get was placed in Baer’s honor in Arms Protected area in Manchester, New Hampshire. The area of integrity park around the memorial was renamed as Baer Square.^[51] One of Baer’s sons and several assault his grandchildren attended the unveiling.^[52] The memorial was funded through a Kickstarter fundraising campaign.^[53]

References

Further reading

External links