普象-让好设计发光

Final Year Design Practice Project at Loughborough UniversityBA Industrial Design and TechnologySeptember 2015 - May 2016​​​​​​​

.Lantern is the accumulation of a 9 month research and design process. It is intended as a portable product with worldwide appeal, that challenges the conventions of how we perceive and consume digital media. In order to create a viable and profitable product, the brand is essential establishing promising consumer base. The brand itself transcends the physical product and is an intangible asset adding to desirability.​​​​​​​

Consumer electronics; especially those in the portable sector, is in a transition phase where high fashion influence meets technology in a hybrid aesthetic. The look and feel of the product and brand strives to embrace this emerging trend.In simple terms; .Lantern is a adaptable throw projector that redefines and replaces conventional AV systems. In addition to normal projection, with ultra short throw projection;Lantern can be placed extremely close to a wall and still project an image above 70". Eliminating the need to facilitate a TV in physical space. 

The current consumer electronic market is saturated with technology that users don’t need (think 3DTV in recent times). .Lantern is a product that aims to encompass technology that users will value and realistically use. Homes are getting smaller, and this facilitates adaptable technology suited to the user. This is why mobile devices and on demand content has become so popular, and .Lantern serves as a way of enabling this content in a sociable way. Embracing I.O.T is an important part of the product, and serves as a sensible solution for the way users interact and connect with .Lantern. It also enables connectivity with existing apps and services in the market currently. 

The physical space for user interaction, or lack of also validated the need to embrace wireless control and I.o.T. With digital content being provided by most mobile devices, the leap from viewing on mobile devices to using mobile devices as a control was a realistic and viable option that fit into the current eco-system of home entertainment products and apps. 

.Lantern benefits from rotary adjustment as well as angular tilt dependent on user preferences. The tilting mechanism actively adjusts the internal short throw mirror to accommodate for any keystone correction.The rotary adjustment means that any plugged in devices remain stationary whilst the projection beam can be moved freely. Short throw projection can be initiated by just a simple press that aligns the mirrors to induce a short throw beam. The same top panel also houses gestural sensors for control with simple hand motions. 

User feedback highlighted the “sense of opulence” certain elements of the design brings. In the Asian market, this is highly valued and adds reasoning behind the physical form. The strength of the product relies in its adaptability, and the projection image should reflect this. The short throw mechanism is an innovative feature and opens up the possibilities of what a projector system and the conventional home entertainment system could be.

The LanternCast App is primarily a media browser that casts onto the Projector using the GoogleCast SDK. Because GoogleCast is being used, the data stream from the internet goes directly to the projector, freeing up processing power and minimizing battery drain. LanternCast can utilise Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-FI direct to control local media storage solutions into the projector. A flash drive containing a movie can be plugged into the projector, and the app can wirelessly navigate the on board media browser.

Utilising 3D printing from 3DPrintUK as a means of testing the feasibility and form of different designs, as well as producing the basis of the final aesthetic prototype. Due to the ‘blend’ between the quartic and round format, replicating this geometry for a vacuum formed shell was extremely difficult. The bases were also printed in SLS due to the complex geometry. The manufacturing choice is a 4 axis CNC routed part. But cost was a factor here, as the part would have required machine time worth over £500, which was not justifiable in the scope of the design prototyping phase. ​​​​​​​

View the brand guidelines hereor check it out as one of my other project uploads...http://raymondngdesign.com/lanternThanks for giving this a read...please like and give me a follow! :)