Expect more AR toys like Merge Blaster at CES

Maybe the next wave of AR toys will avoid your face entirely.

Merge's 6DoF Blaster looks like a Laser Tag gun and uses a phone. And that's basically what it is: Laser Tag, for AR.

It shouldn't be surprising, since Apple's ARKit and Google's ARCore made novelty augmented reality apps a hot thing for phones last year. Merge already makes a low-cost pair of VR goggles for phones, but this blaster gun adds six degree of freedom (6DoF) tracking that phone-connected headsets have a hard time with anyway, meaning you can walk around with it, duck and aim quickly. Merge calls this VR without a headset. It's not, though: It's AR, with a clever toy accessory. 

Toy guns with AR have been here before: from last year's Skyrocket Recoil, to Nerf's own AR Lazer Tag years ago. Google's Tango AR experiments played with tablet-mounted AR gun arcades, too.

Price is unknown, and it looks mildly entertaining. Does this mean a new wave of Laser Tag AR toys is right around the corner? Merge's blaster looks like it won't be the last.

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