THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 23, 1996 TAG: 9607230001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 46 lines
The walk-in closet off Richard T. Cheng's bedroom in Virginia Beach is a tinkerer's dream - no clothes, just workmen's stuff like pliers, screwdrivers, computers, oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers.
In that closet, Cheng invented a device that should revolutionize paintball, a game in which players shoot small balls that splatter paint on whomever or whatever is hit. Cheng's device, which fits on the muzzle of paintball guns, illumines paintballs as they fly through darkness. The invention will open the game for nighttime play outdoors.
Worldwide, an estimated 1 million people play paintball. Now, thanks to Cheng, many of them will stalk each other on night patrols. Seeing paintballs arcing at them out of darkness is ``guaranteed to give. . . a couple of squirts of adrenaline,'' said John Henry, a partner in the monthly magazine Paintball Player's Bible.
Cheng, 62, had never played paintball when his son James began discussing the game with him in February 1995. You might think Cheng would be the last person to care about the game.
A China native who came to America at age 35, Cheng built computer-science programs at four U.S. universities, including Old Dominion University.
Then he launched a second career, founding Eastern Computers Inc. in Virginia Beach and building it into a company that employs 375. With the help of a Taiwanese company, Cheng developed a computer system by which a person typing different combinations of letters on a standard 26-character keyboard could generate tens of thousands of characters in a dozen languages. Cheng is a senior computer consultant to Saudi Arabia and his company maintains computers and other systems for the Internal Revenue Service.
In short, he's a serious and successful computer scientist and businessman, but he harbors a playful spirit. ``Combine that,'' business reporter Dave Mayfield wrote, ``with a longtime fascination with guns, a knack for tinkering and a strong entrepreneurial instinct and it's no wonder that Cheng has pursued his paintball initiative so heartily.''
Cheng's invention is a testament to the power of whimsy. He started tinkering and playfully kept tinkering, usually late at night. Deep in his closet, he struck gold. He's now ready to fill orders on the devices, priced at $249 each. First year sales are projected to be $10 million, with 80 Virginia Beach jobs created. The adrenaline rushes his invention brings paintball players cannot be measured.
There's something to be said for never completely growing up. by CNB