Circuit boards bear a striking resemblance to modern cityscapes. Capacitors jut upward, reaching for the clouds like tiny electric skyscrapers. Wires connect components neatly in a fashion not too dissimilar to highways. Integrated circuits look like little houses. I wonder who lives in there… The complex engineering that powers our modern devices can be easily forgotten when hidden underneath a slick plastic enclosure, and as technology has generally gotten more difficult to take apart and repair, our devices have gone from transparent to opaque. This change could be interpreted as design sensibilities simply changing with the times, but I would argue that transparent technology carried a few key qualities that are worth having a second look at. On the note of design: as a designer or engineer, what could be a better display of pride than literally being able to see your work proudly displayed through transparent plastic? This not only benefits designers and engineers, but players and users of these objects too.
Being able to see the inner workings of our devices sparks the imagination, and reminds us of how monumentally far we’ve come since the invention of the wheel, or the light bulb. In particular, I think game consoles benefit the most from the transparent treatment. The way video games promote imagination through play pairs perfectly with the imaginative qualities of see-through plastic, making it quite *clear* why the Game Boy Color was such a smashing success for example, with more than half of its lineup being transparent variants. There’s an iconic Sega Dreamcast commercial in which the camera takes us inside the console, revealing floor upon floor of different setpieces like a basketball court, a desert, a lively city, and an absolute rager of a party being thrown by none other than Sonic The Hedgehog! A large metal brain floats in the center of the system, pulsating with a red glow, as if it is breathing. The lively lobby below is jam-packed with a variety of Sega characters. The commercial draws to a close as a voice whispers, “It’s Thinking…”
Can a piece of technology think? What would the Dreamcast say if it could speak? Are there really a bunch of little Poké-men running around and living inside of my Game Boy? These questions and more spring to mind and embody the ethos of transparent technology, daring you to think clearly.
