It's been a little while since LarpCon and in all honesty - I think it went well, it was certainly interesting for networking and spreading awareness.
The only real issue was it felt like the venue is getting a little small for it, and it was only a month until the next game - we were advising that we are planning on running next year as well. Mind you, the next game has now been postponed until December...
Equipment wise, lots of chats. Including some around using an Android app as the medic/ref boxes, which I've looked into and it's either a lot of faffing to get the sensors/emitters to communicate via USB protocols, plus costs to just sign up to the Android store so that apps may be downloaded. Overall it's been given up as a not-economically-viable-at-the-moment option.
What I am going to do for the sensors is enable them to receive the information from medic/ref boxes via IR or possibly via an additional UART module that uses usb sockets and cables to connect to the boxes, but not using USB protocols, just a handy, readily available connector set and add a small, relatively cheap Oled display. It's just a matter of finding a suitable PIC chip and sitting down to figure out and code.
The emitter ciruits are going to get the option for a similar usb socket to enable them to be updated via ref boxes to different damage/damage types - I'm picturing this more for Crew kit to give maximum flexibility for the circuits.
There was also talk around adding a nextion touchscreen to the sensors as I've found a source for reasonable sized ones for about a tenner each. BUT that's still adding a tenner plus to the cost of each sensors, along with higher current requirements for the battery. So that has gone out the window :)
However, a touch screen display for the Medic/Ref boxes on the other hand.... That's a thing that can be done, as can a small display for the sensors as well.
LarpCon definitely helped get the creative juices flowing and kick me out of the little bit of a funk I'd gotten in around the Arcturus gear.
Additionally there has been a rather handy video from Larpcon posted:
If you fast forward to 02:54 then the kit may look and sound familiar :)
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