Pixel Desk

The Pixel Desk is the perfect solution to experieince Android on a big screen. A 24 inch rotatable touchscreen, two cameras, a powerful soundbar, and a wireless charging stand make it the Pixel World solution for your office

Pixel 1 World // Pixel Hub // Pixel Desk // Pixel Mouse // Pixel Keyboard // Pixel Book // Pixel VR // Pixel VR Controller

How it works

The goal was to design a desktop device, that fits perfectly into the Google Pixel World to support Android content and apps. As for all Pixel World devices, the data transfer is supposed to be wireless. Bluetooth 5 (up to 48MB/s) WiFi (up to 300MB/s) or 5G (up to 500MB/s) brings Android from your phone to the big screen. The phone can be charged on the stand and pairs wirelessly with a mouse, keyboard and the USB ports of the Pixel Desk.

If you want to learn more about how Google Pixel World differenciates from the current situation, click here.

Ulta Thin Display

The Pixel Desk display size is 24 inch and supports multi-touch gestures. The ports, a powerful sound system and a rotation mechanism are concealed in the textile wrapped central unit behind the display, which allows for a 4mm thin display.

Ports

The Pixel Desk is equipped with two USB-C and two USB-A ports as well as headphone and microphone jacks. The power port is the same as the current Google Nest Hub power port. The ports are located in the central unit under the rotating mechanism and between the loud speaker.

Sound Bar

The Pixel Desk is designed with an integrated sound system. It offers enough space for a rich sound experience and a coordinated speaker design.

The Pixel Desk is part of the Pixel World ecosystem. Like the other Pixel World products, the Pixel Desk is a peripheral device of the Pixel 1 World phone. All calculations are done on the main device which is connected to the Desk and input devices like a mouse and keyboard

Wireless Connection

The Pixel 1 World connects wirelessly with the Pixel Desk. The data transfer happens via 5G, Wifi or Bluetooth. The Desk as also equipped with a wireless charging unit within the stand which can charge the phone while using the Desk as secundary device.

Two Cameras

Users can use the Desk the same way the use their Phone. All apps that are installed on the phone can be accessed without any limitation. Therefore the Desk is equipped with two cameras to guarantee a comfortable experience weather it is in portrait or in landscape mode. The preferred camera switches automatically, but users can change between them manually by touch as well.

Process

Rotation Mechanism

Since the Desk would be very much a mirrow of the Phone screen, a vertical mode makes lots of sense to make sure most of the content can be displayed as users are used to. Additionally, many jobs already now and even more so in the future will contain coding and a vertical display offers readabililty benefits to software engineers.

Four Solutions

During the design process I came up with four different solutions to rotate a large 24” display. Four solutions with up and downsides.

a) A simple concentric rotation point in the middle of the display.
The downside: It makes is necessary for an additional up-and-down mechanism.

b) A concentric rotation point transferred to the top 45° from the middle.
The downside: The display hits the ground while rotating or the vertical state ends in a very high position.

c) A gear at the 45° transferred rotation point to climb up while rotating.
The downside: If the display doesn’t hit the bottom while rotating, the display ends in vertical state higher than desired. The mechanism might also make resting points complicated to realize.

As shown in the animation, a very efficient solution includes a simple L shaped pathway for two rotatable points at the display. This solution has non of the downsides of the other three methods. It ends at any desired position and does not require a second lifting mechanism.

Further development

After some time passed by I followed another approach for mounting the display. The new approach includes a steady stand with two points (image 1 and 2) respectively a steady stand with a central gear (image 3), leaving the rotation mechanism within the display. That would actually decrease the size of the Pixel Desk enormously. I might redesign the concept at a later point in time. This solution would also enable the display to rotate 360°.