Acer’s Project DualPlay Concept Combines Keyboards And Gamepads Into One Laptop

At the next@acer IFA global press conference in Berlin, Acer is also introducing a new gaming laptop concept called Project DualPlay. You may have seen concept laptops that attempted to use the touchpad space to place smartphones before, and this is similar in principle: instead of a smartphone, you have a dock that houses a touchpad that acts as a detachable wireless controller.

Project DualPlay Gaming Laptop Concept

This Project DualPlay concept, as far as we can tell, only exists in renders – but based on what Acer is envisioning, the wireless controller be released from its “electromagnetic lock” via a two-finger touch on the release button located on top of the keyboard. The device also includes two 5-watt pop-out speakers that emerge when the controller is detached. Talk about getting that full sci-fi experience.

So what’s the goal with Project DualPlay, you may ask? If you’re a 90s kid you may be familiar with local multiplayer games that require two sets of inputs, or two sets of hotkeys if you’re playing on keyboards (and the older sibling almost certainly gets the primary set of controls). Acer’s idea is that by having one keyboard and one controller on a single device, you can play certain games (especially fighting games) on local multiplayer by simply giving the other player the controller instead. No more fighting for WASD keys!

Another use case, Acer says, is for different genres of games: for FPS and MOBA titles, keyboard still works best; but for racing games where analog controls reigns supreme, the controller can step in and provide more precise controls instead relying on the key presses. I can vouch as a longtime Forza Horizon player – driving a Koenigsegg is about as hard as you’d imagine without the controller to feather the throttle (with driving assists off, that is).

As you can see with the render images on this article and the trailer (above), the laptop’s design is fully surrounded by RGB lighting, including the keyboard, screen bezels, and pretty much any blank space you can find. The lighting extends to an “infinity mirror lighting bar” on the back of the laptop, as well as the joysticks – you certainly can make yourself very visible to your surroundings with the amount of RGB it has.

Pokdepinion: A pretty wild concept, to say the least.