Ralph Baer, whose “Brown Box” prototype went on to become the first video game console, will be memorialized May 10 with a statue in Manchester, N.H., where he died at age 92 in 2014.
According to Boston.com, Baer also created the precursor to Pong and the electronic memory game Simon. His basement lab was recreated at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and now his sculpture will be placed in Manchester’s Arms Park, where he’ll be shown seated on a bench holding the Brown Box.
Fifty-five backers pledged $14,771 on a Kickstarter campaign last year to turn the idea into a reality. BAE Systems, where Baer was chief engineer when it was called Sanders Associates, and Orbit Group also supported the project.