HTC Design VP Jumps Ship For Google’s Daydream

Claude Zellweger, HTC’s now-former VP of Design, left the company to join the Google Daydream design team. HTC didn’t announce the departure of its product design lead, nor did Google announce the addition to its Daydream team--Zellweger nonchalantly revealed the news via Twitter on January 25.

Zellweger joined HTC in 2008 after the smartphone maker acquired his design firm, One & Co, which he joined in 2001. In 2012 he took on the role of Associate Vice President of Advanced Concepts, and in 2014 Zellweger was promoted to VP of design, where he oversaw the design language and refinement of the Vive VR system.

There’s no telling what Google has planned for Zellweger, nor what he has planned for Daydream. Google’s VR ambitions aren’t well known yet. The company started with Google Cardboard three years ago, and it launched the Daydream mobile VR platform in late 2016. Google’s HMD design is finalized--or so we thought. Could a new member of the design team indicate a new-and-improved Daydream headset is in Google’s future?