Arduview Claims World's First Fully Transparent Handheld Game Console

Experimental handheld Arduview reveals a fully see-through portable system featuring transparent circuit boards and an OLED display running open-source Arduboy games.

A new experimental handheld called Arduview is taking transparent electronics considerably further than the familiar clear-plastic Game Boy shells of the 1990s. Developed by Louis Huang and a team originating at Babson College in Massachusetts, Arduview is designed so users can see through not only the casing but also the circuit board and OLED display. The internal components therefore become part of the visual design rather than being concealed behind an opaque shell. The handheld weighs around 50 grams and is based around the Arduboy ecosystem, giving it access to approximately 400 small games while also allowing technically inclined owners to experiment with open-source software. It deliberately avoids the increasingly connected approach of modern handhelds: there is no app store and Wi-Fi is not required simply to play games. Instead, the concept is closer to the straightforward pick-up-and-play character of traditional cartridge-era portable systems, albeit using much newer electronics. Initial founder units are scheduled to ship during September, while a larger Kickstarter campaign is planned for 2027. The project remains relatively small compared with companies such as Anbernic, Retroid or Analogue, but the transparent PCB and display give Arduview a genuinely distinctive identity. It is an interesting reminder that today's retro-handheld scene is increasingly experimenting with industrial design rather than simply producing another rectangular emulation device.