Industrial designer Phil Saunders has an enviable career; he cut his teeth at Nissan, then branched out and worked on everything from videogames to theme parks to concept designs for Hollywood (he designed multiple suits for Iron Man, among other Marvel properties).
Image: Phil Saunders
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Now he’s designed a wild-looking gaming tablet created in collaboration between computer manufacturer ASUS and German fashion brand Acronym.
Called the ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02–seriously–it features a detachable keyboard (I assume it’s detachable, weirdly ASUS doesn’t say), a kickstand that can be used in both portrait and landscape orientation, and most notably an “integrated carry system” of straps that can be used to carry it or interact with it while it’s slung in front of you.
“We added integrated grips so it can be held securely in any position, as well as robust corner bumpers so you don’t need to slap a plastic case on it save yourself from cracked screen anxiety,” Saunders writes. “The chassis itself is CNC machined to show the honest beauty of the material, with milled light-weighting forms and laser-etched graphics by the always enigmatic Raf Rennie.”
“[I] was thinking in terms of function, what it is, what it does, what it can do, and what are the possibilities,” Saunders told IGN India, breaking down how he came up with the idea for the carry system.
“When you think about a device that’s portable nowadays, you think of something that you use, and then you put it in a bag, and then you take it with that bag to another place, and then you may use it there again. What we wanted was to get rid of that intermediate interface, that’s a limiting idea, a legacy idea from the old way in which people used portable devices.”
“I think people are far more flexible in the way that they use things now. We’re used to walking while we’re surfing the web or doing whatever on our phones, so why not be able to do that with a much more powerful device. So to eliminate this idea, that in transit it’s packaged away, and to make the device its own bag, is what drove the idea of using those corner elements as the anchor points for a strap system.”
“[It’s in] keeping with ACRONYM’s prime motivator which is giving the user agency. It’s taking the user from limiting the way that they think about their device by having it in a bag, to now it’s on them. If they want to use it while they’re walking, they just flip it over and put it in producer mode and there they have it. So whether you use that or not, it’s giving you that opportunity, and that is rewiring your brain into a new way of interacting with a device like this.”
Saunders is quick to share credit; while he conceived of the carry system, he points out that the straps themselves were “designed by our good friend, rock star and all around renaissance man Brandon Smith, AKA The Anix.”
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Demand has been strong; at press time the ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02, which retails for $2,500, was sold out.
Source: core77