Bring Odyssey Ark to life: Meet the team behind the groundbreaking gaming screen

In the game world we can become the captain of a warship or the fastest racer in the world. Players enter their own unique virtual space via a screen. Samsung Odyssey Ark, a 55-inch 1000R curved gaming screen, has opened up a new world for gamers.

How was this innovative gaming screen invented? To learn more about the entire development process from concept design to development and commercialization, Samsung Newsroom sat down with three experts striving to create the Odyssey Ark masterpiece: Hyun Mook Choi, who successfully transformed his Odyssey Ark concept into the final product Jisoo transferred Kim, who worked on product design to provide players with the best possible gaming experience, and Kyuseong Lee, who designed various features to improve gaming experience.

Odyssey Ark Launch: Offer “a unique gaming space where gamers can excel”

Along with the vertical cockpit mode, Odyssey Ark, a 55-inch 1000R curved gaming screen, boasts an overwhelming presence. The all-new form factor was born out of a desire for space.

“I designed the concept of Odyssey Ark because I thought everyone could have dreamed of creating their own arcade using their favorite gaming device.” Hyun Mook Choi, who first designed the concept of Odyssey Ark, recalled the time when when he got the idea.

Jisoo Kim said the product design was inspired by his six-year-old boy building a fortress for his own space. He felt that a flexible screen could satisfy players’ unique desire for a space of their own. They found common ground in space and refined the concept.

“In the early stages of design, we found through interviews that most game lovers ‘wanted to have a big screen that could wrap tightly around them,'” Choi said. “Gamers crave a special screen that offers a great presence in their space, so we set out to create a product that gamers would want to show off.”

The difference between home gaming and home theater and home office is that it should provide “a fun escape from everyday life” rather than blending in with it. “So we thought that a 55-inch 1000R curved gaming screen with a curved 1000R could captivate gamers with a completely different form factor,” said Kim. “Odyssey Ark was created with a sophisticated and stunning design to make users feel like they can win with this gaming screen. Visual excitement has also been added by allowing users to dynamically rotate the screen in any direction.”

“While crafting the product roadmap, we kept in mind that the gaming market is no longer just about gaming, but has grown across platforms, embracing every element of entertainment, including visual aspects and increased interaction.” He proudly stated: “Odyssey Ark was positioned from the start as a ‘game changer’ to open up a new market.”

Built for gaming! Background story behind the development of practical functions to meet individual needs

Players gave Odyssey Ark a warm welcome because it seemed to read their minds. Kyuseong Lee, a gaming enthusiast and part of the Future Planning Group, joined the project and brought ideas. “I first thought about why I was uncomfortable playing and made an effort to reflect players’ playing patterns and their lifestyles,” he said.

Combined with its incredible image quality, the Odyssey Ark has become a “true gaming screen for gamers” with its analysis of player usage and new gaming features such as Flex Move Screen, Multi View and Ark Dial.

The most important part of the product development was the image quality technology. “We used the same processor used in Samsung’s highest-end TVs for gamers who spare no expense to play a game smoothly and with incredible picture quality,” Lee said. Combined with a 4K resolution, the huge display offers amazing gaming specifications with a refresh rate of 165 Hz and a response time of 1 ms (GtG).

Hyun Mook Choi, who designed Flex Move Screen, emphasized the purpose of the product development, saying, “Most gamers like to multitask, so they constantly change the position of the main monitor on their desk and adjust the screen size and aspect ratio depending on what what they want to play. ” Flex Move Screen allows users to choose a screen size between 55 and 27 inches and the screen ratio between 16:9, 21:9 and 32:9. In addition, it helps users find the most comfortable posture by adjusting its screen position within a large 55-inch screen.

Ark Dial, the exclusive controller for Odyssey Ark, is designed for gamers who constantly tweak settings to save time and find shortcuts. Users can easily change screen layout and settings with Ark Dial, as well as control Multi View quickly and easily. “In-house testing shows that Ark Dial dramatically reduces set-up time from about a minute to five seconds,” Kim said. “For the Ark Dial test, we even rented luxury vehicles from friends and tested the jog dial’s smoothness and response time.”

In addition, the Odyssey Ark introduces immersive sound with Dolby Atmos based on a 60W 2.2.2 channel and Sound Dome Tech. Choi gained insight into reviews involving professional gamers, T1. “Contrary to our opinion that all gamers would like to play a game with a headset, they prefer to use speakers. This clearly shows that perfect sound direction and lifelike gaming sound effects are particularly important,” said Choi. “That’s why the Odyssey Ark offers multi-channel speakers and additional woofers.”

Continuous studies and tests to develop a completely new product concept

Inventing a new product means continuous testing, experimentation and study. In addition, improving the usability of the large screen on the desktop was a daunting task. They introduced 1000R curvature to optimize the near-field viewing angle of the 55-inch display. A thin plate for the lower part helps gamers to use the space efficiently even with the big screen.

Kim has watched more than 500 game room decorating videos and game-related documentaries to learn how gamers decorate and organize their space. “In order to develop a 55-inch 1000R curved gaming screen, I watched videos reflecting gamers’ daily lives and analyzed their lifestyles,” he said.

They then created product models using a form board and viewed the screens with projectors to find the ideal screen size and curvature to achieve the ambition of the vertical cockpit mode.

Lee conducted a two-week review involving frequent gamers in the US and examined every detail of gamer needs in terms of features and interfaces. “During the four-day business trip, I had to deal with real-time problems and answers day and night. But it was such a meaningful time that I even forgot how tired I was!” Lee said.

Each new feature requires a lot of time and effort as many people from different departments work together to check UX, GUI, compatibility with traditional features, and quality control. “I think it’s the first project where so many people from different departments have come together for a single product,” said Choi. “It is unbelievable that everyone actively participated in the project.”

Odyssey Ark is finally here. What’s next?

The Odyssey Ark surprised the world with its amazing gaming screen. But when asked about the next plan, all experts unanimously said, “This is just the beginning.” Lee said, “The Ark is in the early stages. We will continue to update the product by reflecting gamers’ preferences.” Kim added, “I want to push physical boundaries and create a better screen.” Choi shared his ambition, saying, “We will do everything we can to let users share the Ark seamlessly immerse you in every game.” Going forward, the Odyssey Ark will continue to open up new possibilities for players.