Shadow Ghost: An Insider Perspective on its Creation
To celebrate the arrival of the slimline Shadow Ghost, Shadow invites you behind the scenes of its conception. Built to replace the Shadow Box, just as Shadow apps were coming into their own, its role and design have been reimagined.
For Shadow, a new era has begun on February 27th, with the release of Shadow Ghost. Join us as we relive the story behind our next-generation Cloud Gaming box, designed to bring you the power of Shadow on any screen of your choice, including your TV. This also marks the end of a lengthy production process dating back to the autumn of 2017, when Shadow took its first steps into the mainstream. In the early days, Shadow was synonymous with its hardware: the Early Bird from 2016 and the Shadow Box from June 2017. This time around, the landscape had shifted. On Android, iOS, PC or Mac, Shadow now came in the form of an app, unshackled from the hardware constraints associated with a box. These limitations were no longer a factor, with Shadow running off the resources of the computer, tablet or smartphone on which the app was installed.
The launch of the Shadow apps in 2017 forced us to rethink the box’s role within our ecosystem. It was still the only way to offer Shadow on monitors that didn’t have an internet connection or any other device connected, like most TVs, but it was a minority of cases anyway. Therefore, it was decided that the box would serve as an accessory to Shadow — an ideal complement if you will — rather than the core of the system. A new product had to be conceived to replace the Shadow Box and fill this newly envisaged role. It would be more aesthetic and streamlined, fitting neatly into your living space. It would also be more technically suitable, seeing as the capabilities of the original Shadow Box rather outstripped its needs. Lastly, it would provide greater flexibility, especially in light of the stark absence of wireless connectivity with the Shadow Box.
With our objectives in place, pre-production could get underway. In September 2017, we entered a first phase in partnership with the French design firm Silamir. The aim was not only to define the look of the new box, but also to determine its technical feasibility — it’s all well and good making pretty things, but it’s even better when they work! Silamir drew up a host of design options for Shadow Ghost, some drawing inspiration directly from the Shadow Box, others leaning more towards traditional network devices. Ultimately, we went with a far less orthodox, more ‘aerospatial’ design. “We wanted to create a unique design, in Shadow’s image. The product has curved edges that evoke the cloud and data dematerialisation. The contrast between the upper and lower casing, both in terms of colour (black and white) and appearance (smooth versus polygonal), was introduced to mirror the dual universe that Shadow Ghost inhabits: gaming and work”, explains Mathieu Le Gall, a designer at Silamir.
Alongside work on Shadow Ghost’s outer features, we started deliberating about what to use under the bonnet. As we mentioned earlier, it was important to aim straight when it came to the technical aspects, to be more efficient. Destined to be hooked up to a TV screen, among others, Shadow Ghost had to decode a great many images in real time and achieve the highest possible display quality, whether in 1080p at 144fps, or above all in 4K at 60fps. These specific constraints very quickly orientated the project towards an ARM-based SoC, a lightweight and versatile architecture at the heart of many Android boxes and certain tablets. We had actually discussed using an ARM-based SoC for the Shadow Box, but at the time none could meet our demands in terms of performance and latency… Not to mention cost! By September 2017, however, technological evolution had worked its magic. The teams chose the Rockchip RK3399 model, powerful enough to decode Shadow’s real-time video stream. As well as meeting the specs, it allowed us to incorporate silent passive cooling and a bespoke array of modules. In our case, the product team opted for USB 2.0, USB 3.0 and HDMI ports, an audio jack and — at last — integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support!
The case and its contents decided, all that remained was to build and assemble them. There was only one place for it, Shenzhen, a sprawling metropolis in south-eastern China. Our project lead, Raphaël, travelled there regularly to find a manufacturer capable of producing the boxes and motherboards for Shadow Ghost, in addition to installing the SoC, while preserving the passive cooling system and fitting it all into Shadow Ghost’s plastic shell. This was the last hurdle before development could start in earnest. Upon receiving the first prototypes, we set about designing and testing the Ghost’s dedicated software component. For it to represent the perfect complement to Shadow, the system would have its own application and functionality. Meanwhile, we were applying the finishing design touches to the box, which received its colour scheme and materials. That was when we decided Shadow Ghost would be black and white, partly to make the LED underneath more visible when it lights up! Once certified for Europe and the United States,cShadow Ghost finally hit production, now within touching distance of launch, to finish under your TV’s !
Originally published at shadow.tech.
