Nothing will ever beat having physical games to hand, but having a home screen library of digital games has its perks. No, I'm not being paid by Sony to say that, nor do I think being able to instantly flick through artwork and pick out games using a controller is worth trading any sense of ownership, but I've just come across an invention that brings virtual game selection to an actual shelf.
Described as an "IRL Homescreen", retro console fan and gadget-maker almostinventor shows off a physical game collection with a digital selection twist. At first, I thought I was looking at AI nonsense, but the ensemble actually uses a projector paired with a rail system that's designed to make Wii game boxes glow upon being selected before being pushed forward with larger game art displayed underneath.
Effectively, you're getting a setup that looks like a digital library UI that lets you pick out games using a Wiimote or a controller, but exists in real life. Yes, there is something silly about the whole thing since you can just get up and use your eyeballs to look at spine labels, but if you're like me and struggle to both process what game boxes actually say when they're sitting in a row, be it in my collection or on a shelf, it's actually incredibly useful.
Visuals and mechanics aside, the IRL home screen is driven by a laptop connected to an ESP32-C3 Robot control board with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which then translates presses to specific vertical positions used to highlight boxes and engage the back rail mechanism. That does mean that the system isn't detecting game boxes and instead displays artwork and box glow based on positioning alone, but it's still an impressive approach.
The natural limits here are that the current setup is confined to just a small selection of boxed games within an IKEA KALAX unit. I imagine that adding more games to the row will come with accuracy caveats, as you'd need to reposition the projector so it can play the game art/startup animations while still being able to highlight the boxes, and multiple shelves should be more complicated.
If, like me, you have an absurd number of games on shelves, implementing this setup for the lot will be convoluted. I would love to see this proof-of-concept grow to that level, though, as it really would help fight the notion that Sony's decision to kill physical PS5 discs is a necessity for library convenience. Plus, it even has a slot-machine-style lever at the side that enables a randomiser, saving you from making pesky decisions before your session.
Everything from the presence of that ominous Wii music to the chirping Wiimote selection sound effect alludes to the IRL home screen being able to actively launch games. Those vibes in other videos appear to be faux for now, but I'm wondering if there's a way to harness homebrew apps to combine functionality so that backed-up games start up via physical selections.
I'll be keeping tabs on almostinventor's IRL home screen project to see where it's headed, and considering the creator has already shared experiement with using "the force" to select games using hand tracking, I suspect there's more to come.
Check out the best retro handhelds for ways to take your classic games on the go.
