Pseudonymous maker “michaelthatsit,” hereafter simply “Michael,” has taken the guts of Valve’s popular Steam Deck portable console and given it a new housing: a converted Apple Magic Keyboard.
“Introducing Bento,” Michael writes of the project, “a Steam Deck in a keyboard. There are some overall flaws in the design that I need to fix, but this is the first working version! Real happy with how it turned out, but I’ll keep refining it. I want to produce a mock product video so I want it as complete as I can get it.”
The Bento is a Steam Deck, but reimagined as a wedge-style portable computer — complete with wearable display. (📷: michaelthatsit)
The hardware itself is a largely unmodified Steam Deck, Valve’s popular portable gaming PC. Rather than the original handheld form factor with integrated display, though, a 3D-printed framework places it underneath an Apple Magic Keyboard — with a storage section at the right for a dongle that connects it to a pair of XReal wearable display glasses. The battery remains intact meaning it can still be used on-the-go for gaming and more, with the wedge form factor providing easier access to a keyboard and thus making the underlying Linux operating system more usable than Valve’s keyboardless original.
“Shapr3D, patience, and a LOT of 3D printer filament,” writes Michael of the device’s prototyping process. “I have a pile of failed versions. I actually snagged all the [Steam Deck] parts off eBay. I’ve considered a folding mechanism so the Apple trackpad collapses underneath when traveling,” the maker adds of the device’s lack of integrated pointing device. “The other idea I’ve had is a touch pad module that fits in the compartment and can be snapped on the lip of the ‘tray.'”
More information on the project is available in Michael’s Reddit post; an updated design is expected to follow in the next month or so.