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Zenith
tangible zero-gravity board games for space travellers and astronauts
Designed at: MIT, 2023-24.
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Role: Research, Industrial Design, Testing, Video Editing.
Solo Project.
Impact: My project was one of 14 selected for this year’s fully-funded $15,000 Zero-G parabolic flight.
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Recognition: MIT Museum Showcase.
I had the most amazing experience of getting feedback from astronauts and testing my game in zero-gravity myself,
thanks to the MIT Space Exploration Initiative!
Why are games so important in the context of space missions?
“They allow for the ability to detach from the seriousness and monotony of being trapped in a potentially dangerous workplace environment. They allow crew members to engage with each other socially, free of making a mistake that could damage the space station or ruin a complex scientific experiment.”
- Gary Bevan, Chief of Aerospace Psychiatry at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
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How might we design these games to be zero-gravity-friendly?
Introducing Zenith
Zenith is a zero-gravity-friendly board game platform that features a magnetic dice floating inside a transparent cylinder and a spherical playing field. When electromagnets activate, the dice snaps to one end, displaying the "rolled" number.
Players use a handheld spherical device with illuminated keys. To move, they press buttons on the sphere, advancing based on the number rolled. Multiple games can be programmed on the platform, such as Connect Four, Simon, and Ludo—the possibilities are endless.
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One platform - multiple games
Prototyping
I gradually scaled up the prototype, starting with a push button prototype, then integrating Neokeys, and finally creating a fully functional version housed in a 3D-printed enclosure. I used rhino+grasshopper to design the 3D-printed enclosure.
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My zero-gravity experience
Day one began with a Technical Readiness Review by the Zero-G team, where we ensured our projects complied with the required guidelines—no small floating parts, securing tethers and installing our projects in the flight. We also got our flight suits and got to keep them! Each of us had a dedicated spot on the aircraft where we could conduct our experiment.
The Space Exploration Initiative at MIT Media Lab organizes a Zero-G parabolic flight every year. The flight traces the path of a parabola, generating repeated periods of 15-20 seconds of weightlessness.
This maneuver is repeated multiple times and can simulate both lunar and Martian gravity depending on the angle of the parabolas.
My project was one of 14 selected for this year’s flight on May 14, 2024. This gave me the unique opportunity to test it during the 37 parabolas of microgravity, (including lunar and martian gravity) while the G-FORCE ONE aircraft performed parabolic maneuvers.
The Experiment
Goal: demonstrate game feasibility and evaluate user experience.
Setup: The zero-gravity-friendly dice was velcroed to my flight suit. I held the spherical playing field, which was additionally tethered to my arm by a rope to ensure it didn’t float away and disrupt other experiments.
Concept of Operations: Throughout the parabolas, I played the game. I turned on the dice to ‘roll’ it and moved the relevant number of steps on the playing field. During the cruising portion between the parabolas, I voice-recorded my experience on my phone.
Reflections
Playing Zenith was a lot of fun, though it took some time to adapt to moving around in zero gravity. One potential issue was the transparent cylinder, which could allow users to manipulate the dice and press the key when the dice lands on their desired number. To address this, adding a secondary opaque, movable layer could conceal the chamber during the roll and only reveal it afterward. Another challenge was the board's sensitivity in zero gravity—it kept clicking randomly whenever we landed, which disrupted gameplay. This should be less of an issue on the space station, where there will be consistent zero gravity.
Designing for zero gravity taught me the value of anticipation, and adaptability in design. It wasn’t just about making a product work but also about reimagining how it would be used in an entirely new context.
Thank you!
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