Ralph Baer: An interactive life

Ralph Baer (1922–2014) and his family fled Nazi Germany in 1938 and immigrated to New York. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and became an expert in foreign small arms. After his discharge from the military, Baer trained for an engineering career in electronics, radio, and television. Fascinated by television, he came to think of it as an underused technology. He believed that television owners should be able to do more than change channels and turn the set on or off—he wanted people to interact with their sets, playing games like ping pong, tennis, and checkers. In 1966, he began experimenting with ways to realize his vision. The video game industry for the home market launched in 1972 when Magnavox debuted the Odyssey game console, based on Baer's inventions. In the course of his long career, Baer invented myriad electronic toys and games, illustrating a commitment to interactivity that continues in video games today.