Opus 5.5 powers Platen, an 80s thermal typewriter prototype
Working as a "digital director" guiding Claude Opus 5.5 on visuals, mechanics and sound, the author built Platen, an open-source thermal typewriter prototype where you can switch paper types, tear off pages and arrange annotations on an infinite desk.
I remember watching an interview with Ted Nelson comparing software design to movie making and how it always needs a "director". With Claude Opus 5.5 (and similar new models), that idea is starting to feel literal. For this prototype/ toy, I researched 80s thermal typewriters with Claude's help, and instead of a literal replica I pushed it toward a hybrid: real where it gives feedback, simple everywhere else. I was looking into designing software the way one would build a game or a level and directing claude (visuals, mechanics, sound, etc) to go in a certain direction. The result is Platen (open sourced), a thermal typewriter that never existed. You can switch paper types and widths, and when you tear a page off it lands on an infinite physical desk with the others. From there you can mark it up, download it, move it around and compare pages. "Digital Direction" might be a better term than "vibe coding/designing" for the way things are being built now. http://platenwriter.app