The Creative Labs team at HTC mostly looks at strategy for the next 3, 5, and 10 years out. VIVE Flow began as a future technology showcase called Project Proton. We looked to unveil Proton at MWC 2020 after receiving a concept engine from HTC HQ in early 2020.

Contributions:

PM: Kho Pei

Design Direction: Kuen Chang, Natalia Amijo

ID Lead: Ian McGillivray

ID Support - Motokimi Yono

CMF - Amira Selim, Ian McGillivray, Natalia Amijo

This early engine for Project Proton focused on a “Pancake” Lens arrangement. By collapsing the lenses together, we could better realize tradeoffs between size, field of view, and resolution. In addition to the lens stack-up, other key features included a diopter adjustment to suit varied prescriptions, and a 6dof tracking system based around two stereoscopic cameras. The engine itself is dwarfed in comparison to other HMDs on the market and by moving the battery to the end of a cable, the weight is almost 3 times lighter than other products.

Our strategy for the product would be to focus on wellness. Gaming is the main draw for most VR users, but we believe that digital wellness is a growing market, especially for users that would normally be hesitant to buy into virtual experiences. By focusing on a few partners in particular, we could better tailor the hardware and experiences Project Proton had to offer.

Proton, strategically speaking, was meant to fit in the grey area between current VR HMDs and the eventual AR glasses. It was meant to be a bridge to create content with as the technology waits on the other side. We focused on making the hardware share this feeling of an in-between world; small and compact, but not trying too hard to look like glasses.

A quick design sprint occurred in order to establish a hardware direction. We wanted to create an easy to don/doff HMD that attracted users to wear it. Current VR HMDs are very techy focused and therefore push many technophobic users away right from the start. We took inspiration from the idea of “looking at the world with rose-tinted glasses” and set off to create a new category in VR HMD design: VR glasses. Lenses that could fold to be stored, and a fitting system that didn’t make you feel trapped either in or out of an experience. A device for casual virtual experiences. As for the form itself, we did not want to create a one-to-one representation of glasses themselves. We started with an approach somewhere between retro goggle-like glasses and hyper modern glasses, and then deconstructed them to make the device feel digitally inspired, but given a human touch.

To slim down the device even further, we moved the speakers into wireless earbuds; a ubiquitous accessory and also weight saving solution. We hid a large amount of the engine beneath a fabric gasket, which gives the device a much more friendly and lifestyle look and hides the cooling fan vents within a channel that flows entirely around the device. In addition to the all-in-two approach, we also designed an all-in-one approach for those that eschew cables. A slight change in the profile of the front glass to bring the device’s character more in line with an HMD, and battery cradle in the rear differentiates the AIO from the AIT. Because the device is already perceived as larger and a standalone device, we also added detachable speakers to the arms.

Proton is designed to look good on anyone and more importantly, work on anyone’s head, regardless of size or hairstyle. The device’s temples are dual-hinged, with one hinge folding to collapse the device and the other to create a spring force to clamp onto users’ heads. The mechanism and weight of the device means that no top strap is necessary which means no messy, crushed hair, and bigger, curly hair is less likely to prevent the user from wearing the device at all. Also, because of the force being primarily inward, the device is not pushed into the users’ faces meaning less “VR blush” and less makeup getting removed by a gasket. If a design made it harder for any users to wear it, we disregarded it. The “Halo” loop, like what the VIVE Cosmos uses, is great for adhering a device to a user’s head, but it was overkill for such a lightweight device like Proton.

The CMF lineup for Proton was created by our CMF designer, Amira Selim. She wanted to ground the device with a cooler base color, with stone-textured plastics and a heathered, textured knit fabric. The star of the show are the lenses which utilize a two-tone NCVM with a warm tonality. The materiality of the lenses was meant to mask the cameras and prepare the user for the digital experiences within.

In addition to the models, we created an animated video to showcase the hardware and UI of the project.

The positive response our team and VIVE itself received from Proton pushed HTC to expedite the project into production. Thus began the VIVE Flow project, including design development, engineering (partnered with our Taiwan-based engineering team), CMF, and launch assets.

Our engineering team produced a more complete (and working) engine for the device. They produced an Alpha prototype, which helped us better understand pain points with the device, and what was necessary to modify. The engine is very similar to Proton, with the only addition being the internal directional speakers in either temple.

The engine allowed our team to jumpstart the design process, while parallel-pathing ergonomic studies. We continued where we left off with Proton and began to better understand exactly what forces the spring arms created and how best to sit the device onto a user’s head. Development occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, so the sound of a 3D printer was almost always humming, and pictures of myself wearing the prototypes showed a life of exploring ergonomics in a home studio. We tested springs in the rear pads, a form-fitting gasket structure, and forehead pads. Eventually, we found that the simplest solution was the best, as the tradeoffs between more mechanisms to weight is inversely correlated in a small device. Three touchpoints: the nose and the two rear pads. As long as we made those comfortable, the device could be worn for some time and remained stable through typical movements. By the end, we knew that we needed two rear pads with a specific curvature, a nose pad, and a gasket that touched the user as little as possible, but still maintained light-blocking.

While parallel pathing the ergonomic studies, ID needed to begin the lockdown phase. Parts were chosen in order to lockdown so that the production phase could be expedited, so while those underwent tooling, we finished detailing and engineering others. The design process began with an overall gestural refinement in Illustrator and Rhino, with final ID being built in CREO to make the handoff to engineering easier. As problems arose through stress testing, thermal sims, speaker testing, optics testing, and ergonomic trials, rolling ID sprints occurred to keep the overall gesture intact.

The engineering phase was different than our studio’s typical workflow. We downsized the studio early into the pandemic, so much of the production modelling was accomplished by me in CREO and traded off with the Taiwan-based team every night. I built in the necessary drafting while taking in feedback about manufacturability and structural integrity. The primary areas of concern between engineering and design were fan venting areas, speaker chamber volume, cable routing, and tracking camera limitations.

Our CMF team was also impacted by external factors, so CMF fell upon myself and my teammate Natalia Amijo. I worked mostly on engineering the materials and finishes, while she handled the back and forth with the optics team on the lens finishes and gasket fabrics as these had specific issues in regard to BOM-cost. We wanted to continue the direction of Proton as much as possible, so textures and finishes of the plastics were focused on maintaining a stone-like feel, making draft a main engineering consideration. The lens color was selected to keep the device feeling uni-sex and the transparency had to be adjusted to “as dark as we can get, but still have the tracking cameras function”. The foam and fabric gasket are designed to keep its form without sag, but still give-way when a user dons the device.

The final CMF included a warm dark grey (almost black) plastic and ventilation mesh, heathered knit (removable for washing) gasket, and warm gold NCVM lenses with a slight shift to ultraviolet depending on angle. This was meant to be an inclusive colorway that maintained a lifestyle-over-tech theme.

Once ID and CMF lockdown was achieved, we had very little time to release teaser images for the device announcement. The marketing team wanted to create buzz before the announcement on social media, so they asked our team to both design the strategy and produce the assets. The assets were split between our studio and the Taiwan-based ID team. (Unless stated, all images shown we my production assets.

We needed teasers both for social media and for launch events hosted in multiple cities around the world. Above are banner images used at events, and below are teasers for social media. Our strategy was to gain momentum in revealing more and more of the device in the weeks before announcement.

The below video was created by Joanna Shieh’s team in Taiwan to introduce the hardware and features of Flow at launch.

We also wanted to showcase where Flow can go and what it can do through use-case renderings. These were done in the small time frame between ID lockdown and announcement, so we did not have time to do photoshoots with the device.

Our focus for typical use of Flow was to prevent a feeling of having to be “locked” into experiences. Did you have a stressful meeting at work? Put Flow on for a few minutes to meditate. Long day? Cool down with an ASMR experience before bed (with an eye protecting warm filter over the display). Have some time in the morning? Watch a movie on a huge immersive display from your favorite streaming service.

We also designed the packaging to reflect the values of the Flow hardware. Our team simplified the box artwork and utilized recycled paper pulp and soy-based ink to reduce the carbon footprint of the packaging. We eventually chose an artwork that showcased the most prominent feature seen on the device; the lenses.

The marketing team asked us to help storyboard a video to introduce the uses of Flow in a user’s typical day. I utilized hand drawn sketches, animated in Premiere Pro to create an atmosphere I thought felt like anyone’s typical day; stresses that build up and could be relieved by Flow throughout the day.

The images above and video below were produced by our marketing team to nail home the experiences Flow delivers. The video is what came from the collaboration between our team and marketing.

Before the final announcement, marketing asked me to help guide users through Flow experiences at influencer/journalist pop-ups in Los Angeles and San Francisco. There feedback is continuing to help me improve the continuation of Flow-adjacent projects and experiences.

The teaser below was created in Blender, has music created by Andrew Champlin, and planned to play in the digital environment before the Flow reveal. We eventually cut it, but if you want to vibe out, give it a watch and listen.