Students Imagine Design's Future

Art student Randy Sarafan knows his thesis project, a game called Taser Tag, isn't for everyone.

"It gets, like, really painful," said Sarafan, a graduating BFA student in the Parsons School of Design's design and technology department, who admits he's been shaking a lot more since he started experimenting with the game.

The game is simple. Once players get within about 30 feet of each other, they can shock other players by pressing buttons located in their headband. Those around them get a jolt of between 80 and 120 volts, depending on their distance from the button-presser.

Taser Tag is just one of the nearly 100 projects showcased in the Design and Technology department's annual thesis project exhibition. Spread through several rooms and halls in two different school locations, projects in this year's show range from computer animation to high-tech ecology to innovations in software. The exhibit runs through June 10.

Sarafan said he's made three working Taser Tag getups, and has engaged in several games around Union Square and on Parsons' property. He wanted to make more sets for playing the game, he said, but at $300 to $400 -- most of it self-financed -- it hasn't been possible. Also, though he buys most parts domestically over the internet, he said he's had to buy the Taser apparatus from England, adding it