‘World’s first fully transparent video game console’ is on its way to Kickstarter — Arduview handheld’s shell, PCB, and display are all transparent
Based on the open source Arduboy platform, this handheld weighs just 1.8 ounces (50g) and comes with 400 pre-loaded games.
The first units of the ‘world’s first fully transparent video game console’ are shipping to founders, and now the project is on its way to Kickstarter. Above and below you can see images of the new Arduview. As you can see, it isn’t just another clear-shell console or handheld; the makers of this device have fully embraced the latest in transparent electronics. Thus, here we have a crystal shell handheld with a see-through motherboard, using a transparent display.
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There have been quite a few transparent shell consoles over the years, with some of the best-known probably being the Game Boy Color in Atomic Purple and the N64 Funtastic series. Earlier this year we saw the new Commodore release a dazzling Starlight edition of the C64U. Most recently, Microsoft has revealed its translucent green Xbox Series X25.
Adruview founder Louis Huang told Tom’s Hardware that while he has always loved transparent consoles and clear-shell mods, he was disappointed that the transparency always just stopped at the frame. “So we pushed it further with a transparent OLED screen, board, and case. You can see straight through the whole device,” wrote the Babson College student.
That's enough about the console’s appearance, what about the guts of this handheld? Well, the Arduview project is based on the open-source Arduboy. You guessed it, this console is based on the Arduino platform, designed for DIY electronics tinkering and coding, and here it is purposed for playing hundreds of community-made 8-bit games on the ATmega32u4 microcontroller with its meager resources (2.5KB RAM, 32KB storage).
Huang highlights that the Arduview weighs just 50g (<1.8 ounces), connects to your computer and charges via USB-C, and there is no app store, no Wi-Fi. Users just power on and play.
If you are interested in this kind of handheld, the Arduview early access program still appears to be open, despite the site mentioning it runs “in August 2026.” I guess we are only just into September… I clicked the button and could still reserve a unit for $5 and benefit from the $49 'founder price.' Apparently it will be $100 at retail.
We don’t have a date for the Kickstarter launch yet, and perhaps there will be similar cheaper-than-$100 offers for early birds, and so on. However, the Kickstarter backers won’t get their hardware until 2027.
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As an open-source platform, there are other makers and suppliers of Arduboy hardware, such as Seeed Studio. If the Arduview’s clear charms aren’t reeling you in but the portable platform appeals, you can grab the not-very-transparent Arduboy FX-C available on Amazon at $79.99, for example.
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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
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Cthulhu8u I'm not sure this would be the first. I thought Techmoan on YouTube had a video years ago highlighting fully-transparent consoles. These were especially made for prisons, where they need to make sure contraband and whatnot weren't being hidden away from guards. They also had fully-transparent electronics such as TVs and radios. Of course these weren't made available to the public, I think you could only order them through the prisons system's storefront.Reply -
wakuwaku Reply
Did any of those have transparent motherboards (or circuit boards), and screens? Yes we all have seen those transparent prison stuff before, and we do not need youtubers to point them out. But were they fully transparent?Cthulhu8u said:I'm not sure this would be the first. I thought Techmoan on YouTube had a video years ago highlighting fully-transparent consoles. These were especially made for prisons, where they need to make sure contraband and whatnot weren't being hidden away from guards. They also had fully-transparent electronics such as TVs and radios. Of course these weren't made available to the public, I think you could only order them through the prisons system's storefront.
Did you actually read the title, article and view the images from start to finish? I don't think you did. Because if you did, you would understand the difference. This one is fully transparent everything (to the extent current technology allows), while prison stuff has fully transparent shells as well as any innards that are not electronics. The electronics themselves were not transparent. I dare you to look back up those videos and post them here, I guarantee you that you were wrong. -
usertests https://www.tomsguide.com/tvs/i-just-saw-lgs-see-through-oled-tv-in-the-wild-and-it-actually-wowed-meReply
I think we don't want transparent displays most of the time, but it's still cool.
Maybe when they become as cheap as the disposable $200 TVs, everyone will have multiple of them. Or built into mirrors too. -
Dementoss Reply
More a case of 'fully transparent, except where it isn't', although that doesn't make for such a good headline, it would make for more honest advertising.Admin said:‘world’s first fully transparent video game console’