The artist definitely captured the atmosphere of the recent movies. Bravo!
One thing that immediately jumps out at me about this chessboard is the use of varied ground plane -- how the back rows are high up, whereas the middle of the board is down below. The high ground really evokes a sense of power of the "senior" pieces, and casts the middle rows below as the inevitable battleground. One can imagine pieces mounting an uphill attack in the later stages of the game. Such a simple thing, and so effective!
It's a beautiful set, I like how each side was translated to smooth/rippled and the textures are very pleasing to look at - like a miniature playable cast of desert characters. I agree the pieces are a bit difficult to distinguish though, especially the queen and bishops which seem to mostly differ in height but not so much in form.
Upvoted because as a work of art it's beautiful and as a product of technology it's neat to see that printing with quartz is possible. But it must be said that the distinguishability of the pieces is lacking.
Just beautiful. We are experimenting with ceramic gelcasting lately[1]. It involves the use of a gel-based slurry, typically made by mixing ceramic powders (such as zirconia, alumina, or silicon carbide) with a liquid binder and a gelling agent in a 3D printed mold. It is a versatile manufacturing method used to create complex ceramic parts.
Upon reading the article it occurred to me that the same method could be used to make those kinds of "dune core" pieces, with sand instead of ceramic powders. There must be a sand-binder-gelling solution formulation that can handle the task.
That's a great idea. Do you have any other ideas for finishing the other half of the pieces. Graphite seems too messy, and I'm not sure the different sands will look different enough.
I imagine the details that currently (and insufficiently in my opinion) distinguish the colors would be obliterated.
I thought the same in picture but in the article author says he used different texture (one smooth and one rippled) for both parties. I give I’m the benefit of the doubt because fine texture can appear very different in reality than photo.
Edit:
> For a game of chess to function effectively it’s crucial you clearly differentiate between both opposition pieces, and, the alternate spaces on which those pieces play. In a mono-material set such as this, a binary contrast between rippled and smooth surfaces (reflective of the contrasting states of sand) become the primary signifier of this difference.
I see the rippling and the smooth pieces, that one is ok. For me what is hard to distinguish are the individual pieces from each other within one colour. The knight from the bishop from the pawn, etc. It is possible to figure them out, but at least for me I can't see it at a glance. I have to think about it and compare them. (whereas with a more traditional set I see it immediately)
Novelty sets like these are deeply unpleasant for regular chess players, because they interfere with normal pattern recognition. There's a huge difference between being able to tell the pieces apart and being able to read the board at a glance. It's like reading a book in bad handwriting instead of clear type - you can decode it with enough effort, but you can't read fluently or scan the text.
I think the parent commenter did read that and their concern is that tournament chess has a touch-move rule (if you touch a piece you have to move it).
This set is certainly a cool art piece, but not particularly functional if a player has trouble distinguishing pieces visually.
The queen looks like a slightly larger version of the bishop (or is that the knight?), I could see someone confusing them if they're sitting at different levels.
More decorative than functional but beautiful nontheless and could be iterated to make it a better chess set. Maybe mixing different types of sand as a finishing coat on the pieces? (vocanic and coral for the pieces and quartz sand for the board)
> Amidst this decline of everyday physical sensation; the Dune Chess Set represents an investigation into themes of tactility and intimacy in an attempt to catalyse connection between users, their bodies, and the world around them
This is either a human writing overly complex, abstract prose, or an LLM. I’d hoped for interesting text to accompany the admittedly very unique chess set, but this is just overwrought and abstract for no good reason.
I won't discredit how beautiful this set turned out, but by my eyes the pieces are not particularly easy to (quickly) distinguish from one another (i.e. rook vs pawn vs bishop). Gorgeous to look at though!
Readit News
One thing that immediately jumps out at me about this chessboard is the use of varied ground plane -- how the back rows are high up, whereas the middle of the board is down below. The high ground really evokes a sense of power of the "senior" pieces, and casts the middle rows below as the inevitable battleground. One can imagine pieces mounting an uphill attack in the later stages of the game. Such a simple thing, and so effective!
Upon reading the article it occurred to me that the same method could be used to make those kinds of "dune core" pieces, with sand instead of ceramic powders. There must be a sand-binder-gelling solution formulation that can handle the task.
[1]https://voxleone.com/2024/03/05/3d-printing-im-making-a-500c...
I imagine the details that currently (and insufficiently in my opinion) distinguish the colors would be obliterated.
Edit:
> For a game of chess to function effectively it’s crucial you clearly differentiate between both opposition pieces, and, the alternate spaces on which those pieces play. In a mono-material set such as this, a binary contrast between rippled and smooth surfaces (reflective of the contrasting states of sand) become the primary signifier of this difference.
it was still unplayable and more of a decoration
This set is certainly a cool art piece, but not particularly functional if a player has trouble distinguishing pieces visually.
The queen looks like a slightly larger version of the bishop (or is that the knight?), I could see someone confusing them if they're sitting at different levels.
Deleted Comment
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Chess
Deleted Comment
This is either a human writing overly complex, abstract prose, or an LLM. I’d hoped for interesting text to accompany the admittedly very unique chess set, but this is just overwrought and abstract for no good reason.
It's got a nice 'go' feel especially with the bowls of pieces, that engraved board is great.. just a great prop. Big ups to the production designers.