The issue of zombies has always been a tense one in airsoft communities. While these comprise a very small minority, they are always a topic in skirmishes and lead to short fuses to some players who get frustrated with these types. The answer has always been instilling honesty to players, and Marshals are deployed to ensure that players take their hits. But Marshals are not perfect, and they've got only two eyes to wa­tch over many players. Other companies tried bb paint markers, which are still imperfect and players tend to avoid these as these have issues of clogging up the inner barrel.­

A Korean company, Gun Power, has provided their GPR system which is a hit sensing system that disables your AEG when you are hit without any modifications. While this technology is good, it ruins an aspect of airsoft, which is the loadout aspect such as vests and helmets. GPR is a proprietary system that is comprised of a vest and a helmet for hit sensing, you cannot wear your own vest or helmet. These only detect hits on the centre-mass and head, but not at the extremities. So it's not a perfect system.

Now, a small Japanese startup company think they have perfected the BB that will ensure that players acknowledge their hits --- via electric shock.

Baka Industries has come up with a BB that will give the player an electric shock when hit. Called the BBShock, the BBs are low-cost ones, they say, as they will outsource the manufacturing of these bbs to a Chinese Company.

So how do these BBs work?

The company say they have made a breakthrough of making BBs absorb electrical charge through their proprietary process which is now being applied for a patent. It is not far from the regular BB materials, close to those being used in biodegradable BBs. So these BBs are also considered biodegradable, "green-friendly".

Close-up shots of the BBs in the laboratory

These BBs, have a bluish hue with a very malleable metal inserted in these during the manufacturing process. The blue colour makes it distinguishable from the Tracer BB rounds and for easy identification that these are shock BBs. The metal ensures that electrical charge is absorbed and stored prior to use.

Electric-absorbing material inside the BB

The BBs are carefully selected for their quality, spherical shape, and polish before these are bottled. They want a high tolerance of  +/- 0.01mm before these are shipped out to the retailers. The BBs do not yet have an electric charge stored in them when they are shipped. For first release, only .20g bbs will be made available.

Once you want to use the BBs for a skirmish, you will need to charge the BBs prior use. The BBs have been designed to make full use of the mobile phone charging pads developed by WildCharge. Wildcharge is a company that has released a charging pad for Motorola RAZR phones and other gadgets that use their contact points. The charging pad costs around US$60. The BBs can be charged in less than 10 minutes and you can then bottle these or put them in the magazine before use. The BBs retain the full electrical charge for 72 hours before they begin to drain. Once power is drained, you can recharge these again.

WildCharge mobile phone charging pad

The BBs have a bluish glow when charged. This indicates that the BBs are ready for use. But they are safe to handle as they cannot release the electrical charge until fired. You can hold them by hand, or even near an electric conductor, and they won't release the charge. The trick is shown below.

Another requirement before using the BBs in a skirmish is the Activation Unit. Similar to the Tokyo Marui Tracer Unit, this activation unit is a QD silencer-type attachment that is powered by 2 CR123a Lithium Batteries. Once the BBs are fired, the Activation Unit gives another small quick electrical charge to the passing BBs to make the BBs come "alive", that is, they are now ready to release their charge to anything they hit. The Activation Unit requires at least .8 joule of energy in the passing BB in order to make it "alive". Below .8Joule, then BBs will just be like Tracer BBs, the charge won't be released though, only a light show.

When a player is hit, the BB gives a mild electric charge, painful enough to make the player uncomfortable and will call the hit. Players should be at least 14 years old and do not have a history of heart problems or a pacemaker. So players should be honest enough to acknowledge any health problem in case these BBs are used, or else it's their heart at stake.

The charge can penetrate through clothing and even vests. For thick vests such as the CIRAS, it will be like a pin prick. For clothing, it will be a little bit more than that.

Once the charge is released, not a single charge is left in the BB. So in wet weather, it is safe to use (though we don't know if someone in the water can experience more shock). Just like ordinary bbs, they are useless to use after being fired, thus, players will need not recycle them or their AEGs may be damaged by deformed bbs.

Your hair will even stand when hit as shown by this employee of the company during tests.

Availability

The pricing for the Activation Unit is US$60 for retail. They did not say the wholesale price for this for interested retailers. No other modification is required for the AEG.

The BBShock and the BBShock Activation Unit will be released later this year, with no date specified. The Company says that the price for a 2000 round bottle of BB Shock will be around US$12 which is reasonable enough. The WildCharge charging pad can be bought from any mobile phone dealer.

I guess this will be the end zombies. What do you think?

[Update: Editor- Right! April FOOLS!  Kudos to Evansy who first found and posted the clue at  the Zero In Forums]