Alienware
Portal
How Can We Create Immersion
in the Future of Gaming?
Partnered* with Alienware to conceptualize a gaming console for 2035.
4 Weeks | 150 Hours | 2024
Skills | Future Casting, User Experience, Ergonomics
Software | Solidworks, Keyshot, Adobe Suite
Challenging VR as the Standard for Immersion
The frontier of immersion in gaming usually points to VR.
But it’s an incomplete solution.
Physical
Eye Strain
Extended VR usage has been documented to cause strain and blurry vision. Not really ideal considering people can game for hours on end.
Social Isolation
VR games are very rarely multiplayer. Even if they are it's not the same as playing split screen on a couch. The social setting is a big draw for many casual gamers.
Game Dev Nightmare
VR games are hard to make, plain and simple. They cost high in development and often don't reach the same reception as PC or console games.
Conducting Market Research and User Interviews
Discovering emerging trends in technology and societal behavior through in-depth market research and user interviews.
Design Criteria
Freedom
How can we prioritize ease of use?
Community
How do we encourage and facilitate virtual and physical social interaction?
Connection
How do we fully immerse the player?
Exploring Concept Directions Defining Immersion
Ideated multiple directions to address flexibility and inclusivity, establishing the foundation for future-focused design.
Recording User Scenarios to Validate Prototype Interaction
Built physical models to test user experience. Acted out and recorded short scenarios to validate design concepts.
Defining a Tech Stack for Immersive Gaming
Identified a specific hardware and software framework through research and scenario testing. This configuration addresses VR limitations to enable immersive gameplay.
Ultrasound
Haptics
Projection
Mapping
Controller
Tracked
Gesture
Inputs
Ideating Phygital Interactions through AI Research
Iterated digital and physical prototypes simultaneously. Applied AI training data research to ground conceptual explorations.
Iterating Touch Points via CAD and 3D Printing
Refined physical interfaces through digital modeling and 3D printing. Validated ergonomic refinements via continuous scenario testing.
Designing the Console Around Controller
Prioritized the primary user interface to define the system's form. Established a cohesive aesthetic for both docked and handheld configurations.
Projecting a Decade of Gaming Evolution
Alienware Portal is an all-in-one gaming console, designed to bring the game world into our own.
This concept is an educated imagining of what gaming could look like a decade from today.
Integrating Ultrasound Haptics into Wearable Controllers
Integrated ultrasound haptics, accelerometers, and proximity sensors into wearable controllers. This simulates physical resistance and textures during gameplay.
User Programmable Gesture Inputs
Similar to button mapping, Morph Rings allow you to map your own gestures to button inputs.
Slash downwards for a light attack, or swing up for a heavy. Pull back to notch an arrow, or bring up both hands to peer down iron sights.
The game is your oyster.
Wrist-Based Controls
Morph Rings turn finger movements into button inputs and use ultrasound to create haptic feedback in mid-air.
Touching the joypad enables wrist-based joystick control for movement and camera angles.
A built-in touchpad allows for traditional play without using gestures.
Applying Surface Textures to Integrate Brand Identity
The Morph Rings use texture to push both functionality and the Alienware brand language.
Added a raised diamond texture to the joypads and touch pads for tactile feedback during thumb movement.
The hexagon pattern on the outside of the rings have thin gaps for the ultrasound haptics.
Evolved the brand's signature oval and hexagonal shapes into a reserved biomorphic form language
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Integrating AI-Driven Projection for Environmental Feedback
The console provides real-time visual cues for in-game status and environmental changes through projection mapping.
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Incorporating Cinematic Sci-Fi Influence into Console Form
Integrated design elements from the Alienware brand story and the Dune films. This approach translates cinematic aesthetics into the physical console geometry.
Integrated an adjustable back stand to give users control over the projection angle. A bent, polished steel rod adds a clean visual contrast to the console's curved shape.
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Dual Projection
From A Spaceship
The Portal console borrows heavy influence from the sci-fi brand story of Alienware. This specific form is inspired from the Dune films.
The Morph Rings attach to both sides of the console, creating a "mothership" effect for the entire system.
A raised ring on the front face allows users to power on the device and adjust projection strength by sliding up or down.
Portal has an adjustable back stand, providing control over projection angles. The bent polished steel rod breaks up the complex sculptural form while maintaining a sense of elegance.
It's oblong silhouette houses two sets of projectors and sensors; one aimed towards the floor and the other aimed towards the ceiling, creating an immersive bubble.
The flared and illuminated exhaust vents on either side carry the hot air from the projectors using liquid cooling.
Portal is powered via type-C ports and includes an HMDI port.
Validating System Performance Through Final User Scenarios
We tested out our final user scenarios to get a comprehensive idea of the concept and how it performs.
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