Nex Playground is an active game system, designed for families. While gaming at-large is predominantly a sedentary endeavor, Nex Playground reignites people’s passion for active physical movement, turning screen time into active playtime for players of all ages.

Aimed at families who already love gaming, or who are seeking “safer” ways to introduce gaming into the home, Nex wants everyone to get up, get engaged, and play. Using cutting-edge AI, mobile, and vision technologies to capture your body’s natural movements, physical gestures are tracked without need for additional game controllers, sensors or wearables.

Nex Playground merges the physical and digital worlds allowing players to be effortlessly immersed into fun, creative experiences that get the family exerting themselves with hearts pounding, skin sweating, and riots of laughter.

Liberated from ergonomic requirements, the design of Nex Playground is influenced by game nostalgia. The geometric form took inspiration from early Nintendo consoles and Rubix Cubes–harkening back to the childlike elation of early gaming, and a nod that the parental purchasers appreciate.

Embodying an anthropomorphic character, the primitive shapes are balanced with personality, achieved by leveraging the system’s camera lens and LED indicator to create a subtle winking eye – another nod to childhood imagination. The “monocle” provides a physical camera cover for those wanting reassurances around privacy, leaning into the sweet character of the hardware.

A category once shaped by fun, gaming devices have largely slipped into a world of functional monochromes. Nex Playground’s design infuses joy with an exhilarating color spectrum that speaks to excitement and movement, signaling the fun and energy seen in sports brands. Bright and activating, the hues invite play while being grounded in a home-friendly neutral.

The handheld remote provides on-screen navigation between games and activities, and uses a mini joystick to gamify the user interaction. Weighted to not roll off surfaces, it is just the right size for small and large hands alike. Nex’s dedication to pushing the boundaries of active entertainment keeps our families healthy, moving and having fun.

Category:ElectronicsYear:2024Designers:Nichole Rouillac, Founder + Creative Director; David Roseberry, Lead Industrial Designer; Justin Mamaril, Junior Industrial Designer; Marion Decroix, Senior Industrial Designer. level, San Francisco, California, USAManufacturer:Nex, San Jose, California, USA